Bhubaneswar: Six persons, including three minors, have been arrested in connection with the murder of a youth over a love triangle involving a minor girl in Bolangir district, the police said Thursday. Rajat Kumar Pradhan was allegedly murdered by Suryakant Selmatha and his five friends as both (Pradhan and Selmatha) were in love with the same girl. Investigation by the police revealed that to eliminate Pradhan, Selmatha and his friends planned the murder and executed it, Bolangir Superintendent of Police, Khilari Rishikesh Gnyandeo said. Pradhan went missing June 24, and his mobile phone was found switched off. His body was recovered from the railway line near Khujenpali village the next day.
A case was subsequently registered by the Government Railway Police. Till that day, the police were suspecting it to be a case of suicide. However, the police later recovered Pradhan’s blood-stained shirt from a tree, 6 km away from the railway track. Following this, the police began investigating the matter from the murder angle. The Bolangir SP said that prime accused Suryakant Selmatha and his friends killed Rajat Pradhan with a sharp weapon and then took him to the railway tracks, and then abandoned his body on the railway tracks to make the incident look like a suicide case, Rishikesh said. Six people, including three minors, have been arrested. Pradhan’s mobile phone, and the weapon and iron rod, and bikes which were used in the crime were also recovered.
A crime scene reconstruction was also done Thursday, the police officer said. “Till now, the main reason behind the murder seems to be the dispute between Pradhan and Selmatha over a minor girl. However, we are investigating who had invited Rajat to the murder spot,” he said. Rajat’s father Nirakar Pradhan alleged that the minor girl is the main conspirator of the crime, and demanded a death sentence for everyone involved in the crime.
On this, the Bolangir SP said, “As the girl is a juvenile, we are dealing with this case very carefully. The only clue we have is that the girl earlier used to meet Rajat at the spot of the murder. We are ascertaining what her role is in this case.” Further investigation in the case is going on. If anyone is found involved in it, action will be taken accordingly, he added.
