Bhubaneswar: Over 11 years after a businessman was murdered, dismembered, and his body parts dumped at different locations in Bhubaneswar, a court Wednesday sentenced three men to life imprisonment.
A severed human head was recovered from the banks of the Daya River near Nathpur village in the Dhauli police station area November 4, 2014.
Police had also found a black plastic bag containing parts of a human face, hair and brain at the spot. Subsequent forensic examination and DNA testing confirmed the remains belonged to missing businessman Krutibas Parija alias Sonu of the Khandagiri area.
Third Additional District and Sessions Judge Himanshu Sekhar Mallick convicted Sagar Prusty, Sanjay Khuntia and Bharat Sahoo in the case and imposed a fine of Rs 20,000 on each of them.
The court directed that if the convicts fail to pay the fine, they would have to undergo an additional two years of imprisonment.
The verdict was pronounced after examination of 28 witnesses and relevant documentary evidence.
According to police, during the investigation, it emerged that the victim’s brother, Ganeswar Parija, had lodged a missing persons complaint at Khandagiri police station after Krutibas went missing.
Investigators later found that the three convicts had jointly murdered Parija over a financial dispute and subsequently cut the body into pieces in an attempt to destroy evidence.
Police said the accused disposed of the body parts at different locations and abandoned the vehicle used in the crime near a railway station to mislead investigators.
The three were later arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
