Post News Network
Niali, Feb 1: A farmer who filed an RTI application seeking information on large-scale irregularities in paddy cultivation was found buried under a tree near River Taanla at Nacchigaon village Saturday, six days after he had gone missing.
Police recovered the decomposing body of Krupasindhu Sahu (40) and sent it to SCB Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem. Soon after Krupasindhu filed the RTI application seeking to unearth more information on irregularities in paddy cultivation in Krushnaprasad panchayat, he began receiving threats from people involved in the scam. His wife Laxmipriya said her husband was threatened with dire consequences if he pursued the matter. A few days later, Krupasindhu was kidnapped by unidentified persons.
“The kidnappers often phoned me and demanded `30 lakh to release my husband,” Laxmipriya said. Based on her complaint, police registered a case and through mobile phone tracking, raided the house of accused Kartik Pani of the same village.
Police spotted bloodstains and other circumstantial evidence at Kartik’s house and interrogated his mother and sister. Kartik, a murder accused out on bail, was already on the run by then.
After further investigation, police detained Kartik’s nephew Dilip Jena alias Pratap of Karang village, who later confessed to killing Krupasindhu and revealed the location of the body.
SDPO Nrusingh Charan Swain, additional tehsildar Ashok Kumar Swain, and inspector in-charge Satyabrata Lenka accompanied by a forensic team reached the spot and dug the body out.
As news broke out of the sordid killing, enraged family members of the deceased and locals blocked the Niali-Phulnakhara highway demanding the arrest of the main accused and others involved in the crime. Krupasindhu’s life was lost due to the inaction of police, his family alleged.