Chhatrapur: Eight youths were arrested, including the two who were picked up from West Bengal Wednesday in connection with the killing of BJD councillor Laxmidutta Pradhan and produced them in court, Ganjam SP Ashis Kumar Singh told the media Friday at the district police headquarters.
The accused were identified as Prabhat Kumar Nayak alias Sonu, Surya Kumar Nayak, Prem Kumar Nayak, Jiten Kumar Nayak and Sushila Nayak of Harijan Sahi , N Ishwar Reddy and Kuna Nayak of Shanti Nagar in Chhatrapur and Prashant Swain of Mardkote area under Kodala police limits in Ganjam district.
Police have applied Chhatrapur SDJM court to take Sonu, Surya, Prem and Jiten on a five-day remand.
The killing was a fallout of past rivalry and executed in a planned manner, the SP said, adding some of the main accused are yet to be arrested.
Police said the gang planned the murder two days before the incident and executed it during a clash between two groups of students of a local college. More than 10 youths carrying lathis and swords reached Laxmidutt’s house and hacked him to death.
It was evident from the CCTV footage that Sonu, Surya and Prem had direct involvement in the killing while Sushila and Prashant helped in fleeing of other accused, including Santosh Sethi, Banaj Nahak, Prashant Behera alias Kali, Ayushman Mohapatra alias Chiku and Bhaskar Behera to Bhubaneswar, SP Singh said, and added that three more accused – Ishwar, Kuna and Jiten – were involved indirectly in the case.
Earlier, police had seized the hard disks of the CCTVs installed outside Laxmidutt’s house and based on the footage, three teams were formed to investigate the matter. The footage helped the police in identifying the accused.
The main conspirators and others involved in the case would soon be arrested once the probe is completed, police said.
Police also seized a car and a bike from the accused while a blood-stained sword, lathis, a bike and a scooter were seized earlier from the murder scene.
Additional SPs Ajay Pratap Swain and Pradip Kumar Mohapatra and Chhatrapur SDPO Ramesh Sethi were present at the press meet. PNN
