Junagarh: Seven months after the murder of Suryakanti Behera of Pragati Nagar in Matigaon village of Kalahandi district, police Monday arrested the deceased’s sister and a contract killer.
The police found that the murder was the result of a prolonged family dispute. The accused have been identified as Suryakanti’s sister Chandrakanti and contract killer Tankadhar Pandey.
According to the case diary, the incident occurred February 18 this year. The two sisters were at loggerheads due to family disputes.
Chandrakanti is reported to have hatched a plot to eliminate Suryakanti when her husband Someswar was out of town to attend a marriage. As per the plan, she hired Tankadhar to murder Suryakanti.
Tankadhar entered the house of Suryakanti when she was alone and slit her throat. He later crushed her head with a stone.
Someswar returned home and found his wife lying in a pool of blood and alerted the police. As there were no clues the family assumed that unknown killers had entered the house to steal valuables and might have attacked Suryakanti.
But the police ruled out robbery, and carried out a serious investigations as the miscreants did not take any valuables.
The police suspected Chandrakanti and interrogated her. She confessed to the crime and was arrested.
Police learnt that Chandrakanti was in touch with the killer and had paid Rs 25,000 after the murder. The probe is trying to ascertain whether more persons are involved, said DSP Himanshu Mishra of the Crime Branch.
PNN