Bhadrak: Days after a cricketer was shot dead following a suspected drunken brawl during a feast in Cuttack, a 24-year-old budding cricketer was hacked to death by assailants during Dola Melana festival at Gunthunia Bazaar under Bhadrak Town police limits late Sunday night.
The deceased in the latest case was identified as C Kumar Swamy, 24, of Baralpokhari village in Ward No. 3 of Bhadrak Municipality.
Police have detained three suspects and launched an investigation into the incident. According to police, an argument broke out among a group of youths near the fairground around 1 am Sunday night. The altercation soon turned violent and the attackers allegedly assaulted Swamy with a sharp weapon. He sustained severe injuries to his chest and abdomen.
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The assailants fled the scene, leaving him behind in a pool of blood. Local residents rushed Swamy to the Bhadrak District Headquarters Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead. Bhadrak Superintendent of Police Manoj Rout visited the crime scene Monday morning and reviewed the situation. He said police have identified the youths involved in the murder and that all accused will be arrested soon. Police sources said Swamy was known locally as a good cricket player.
Preliminary discussions suggest the killing may have stemmed from a dispute among friends. Based on a complaint filed by the victim’s father, C Rameya, Bhadrak Town police registered a case (174/26) and launched an investigation.
Rameya, a railway employee posted at Charampa railway station, said his son was watching a cricket match with him at home Sunday night before stepping out after the match ended. While Swamy did not return home till midnight, a local resident informed the family over the phone that he had been taken to the hospital. Upon reaching the hospital, the family learned that he had died.
In his complaint, the father alleged that five to six youths were involved in the murder and demanded their immediate arrest. Notably, cricketer Soumyaranjan Jena, 32, was shot dead during a feast in Nuapada Press Colony area of Cuttack February 18.
PNN