Chhatrapur: Police Tuesday arrested five more persons for their alleged involvement in the gruesome murder of Laxmidutta Pradhan, the ward-6 councilor of local Notified Area Council (NAC) in Ganjam district.
Earlier eight persons had been arrested in this connection.
This apart, a district secretary of BJP and a secretary of Gopalpur Port Supervisors’ union are involved in the killing, police said.
These five accused were directly involved in the murder of Pradhan, Ganjam superintendent of police Ashis Kumar Singh told newsmen at a press meet held at the police headquarters here.
The accused were identified as Santosh Sethy who lives near Chhatrapur court, Ayushman Mohapatra alia Chiku of Cinema Pendal Sahi, Banoj Nahak of Gangapur, Prashant Kumar Behera alias Kali of Bata Chhatrapur and Sanjay Goud of Nuapalli village under Bhikaripalli who lives in Shanti Nagar of the town.
The video footage clearly shows that the five had killed Laxmidutta, police said, adding that the accused would be brought in a five-day remand for further interrogation.
Police said they have enough evidence on the involvement of district BJP secretary Krushnachandra Nayak and Laxmipur samiti member and Gopalpur Port supervisors’ union secretary N Duryodhan Reddy alias Pitu in the murder, SP Singh said.
Apart from Krushna and Duryodhan, three others – arrested Santosh Sethy’s brother Chhotu, Pramod alias Kana Fitu and Bhaskar Behera of Bata Chhatrapur – would be nabbed soon.
A special team has been constituted to arrest the five, the SP informed.
Giving more details about the crime, Singh said, a meeting was held at Pitu’s house to make plans for the elimination of Laxmidutta. They got a chance September 16 following a clash between two groups near a local college. The accused rushed to Laxmidutt’s house and killed him brutally with swords and lathis. The killing was the fallout from a past rivalry. Several others, who had helped the accused, are yet to be arrested, the police said.
The five accused who were arrested Tuesday had planned not to return to Orissa, it was learnt.
While the CCTVs installed outside Laxmidutt’s house helped in identifying the accused, police are now searching for blood-stained swords and blood-soaked clothes of the accused, according to a report.
Additional SPs Ajay Pratap Swain and Pradip Kumar Mohapatra and Chhatrapur SDPO Ramesh Chandra Sethi were present at the press conference. PNN