Bargarh: Bargarh police cracked the murder case of a 57-year-old woman whose body was recovered near the Resham Branch Canal bridge Sunday, arresting a man accused of killing her over a financial dispute.
The victim was identified as Mamata Hota of Sahajbahal village under Deogaon police station in Bolangir district. The accused, Ramakanta Pujari, 56, of Beheramal village under Dunguripali police limits in Subarnapur district, was arrested and later remanded to judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected.
Addressing a press conference Tuesday, Additional Superintendent of Police Rabindranath Satpathy said the woman’s body was recovered with multiple injuries to the head and other parts of the body. Her identity was initially unknown, but investigators traced her family after circulating her photograph on social media.
Satpathy said police formed three teams with support from the cyber cell and a scientific team to investigate the case. Questioning of the victim’s family revealed that Hota had maintained financial dealings with Pujari for several years and frequently visited him to recover money she had lent. The information led investigators to focus on the accused and eventually crack the case.
According to police, Pujari owed the victim several lakh rupees. Hota had reportedly visited him two days before the incident to recover Rs 1 lakh.
Investigators said the accused took her to the Barpali Sital Sasthi festival on the night before the murder and kept her with him through the night before allegedly attacking her with an axe the following morning.
Police seized the axe allegedly used in the crime, a TVS XL Super moped, the victim’s footwear, clothing and mobile phone.