Parjang: Police Saturday detained a youth for the gruesome murder of a co-villager on New Year’s Day at Basoi village under Parjang police limits in Dhenkanal district.
The accused was identified as Saroj Biswal, 28, alias Maku in the village.
Saroj allegedly killed Rakesh Sethi, 27, by hacking him to death with a machete. Later, he chopped the body into 50 pieces and scattered the dismembered body parts on the village road.
According to police, Saroj had been hiding behind a bush near the village pond since the day of the murder. He was nabbed late Friday night 48 hours after committing the crime. Police caught him over a tip-off when he had come to his house for food.
Following his detention, police recreated the crime scene in Basoi village Saturday. Saroj disclosed to police how he murdered the victim and disposed off the murder weapon — a machete and a lathi — in the pond near the village.
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Saroj admitted that he had been mentally disturbed following the deaths of his two brothers over the past three years. In 2021, his younger brother Chiroj Biswal, 25, was murdered in Balasore, and in 2023, another brother, Manoj Biswal, was killed in a cashew forest in the village. The accused claimed that the deceased, Rakesh Sethi, was involved in these murders, and he killed Rajesh to avenge his brothers’ deaths.
Dhenkanal Additional SP Prabhat Biswal, Kamakhyanagar SDPO Gyanaranjan Mishra, and Parjang IIC Priyabrata Das were present during the crime scene recreation. They were joined by Sarang OIC Prashant Kumar Sahu, Dadaraghati OIC Shakti Prasad Sahu, and the Parjang ASI Ramesh Chandra Swain, along with scientific team members and fire service personnel.
The investigation of the case is now under the supervision of SDPO Gyanaranjan Mishra. A detailed account of the murder will be provided by the Parjang PS officer-in-charge Sunday, police authorities said.
PNN
