NIMAPARA: Three dreaded criminals were arrested by Balanga Police from Padmapur village on Wednesday in connection with the murder of lawyer and hotel owner Chandan Kumar Behera. Behera, who owned hotel Sai Kutir in Puri, was brutally murdered by two miscreants on January 8 on his hotel premises.
Protesting the murder, Puri district lawyers went on strike demanding immediate arrest of culprits or transfer of SP. Taking the issue seriously, Puri police swung into action and formed a special force, whose personnel were deployed at various sensitive points of the district. Officer-in-charge, Balanga police station, Pravat Sahoo said the team tracked the mobile phones and located the whereabouts of the criminals. On Tuesday night, Balanga police gheraoed the house where the culprits were hiding after the murder and nabbed the three.
Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi and senior police officers of the district visited Balanga on Wednesday to take the accused to Puri for further interrogation.
On January 8, Behera and his friend were about to enter the hotel premises when two assailants started attacking the duo with sharp weapons. Behera was hit and fell on the hotel lawn while his friend, Krushna Chandra Pradhan managed to run out of campus but one miscreant gave him a chase and hit him.
Pradhan still managed to run away. The two criminals not only hacked him to death but also unsuccessfully tried to take the body away before fleeing.
12 get bail in police assault case
Additional District Judge, Nimapara, granted bail to 12 persons of Charichhak under Nimapara police limits on Wednesday.
They were arrested in December for pelting stones and injuring eight police personnel and setting police jeep on fire in November. They had allegedly violated prohibitory orders during an agitation demanding better facilities in Charichhak UPHC in November.
After the incident, police raided different places and arrested 12 people. All of them were granted bail, said RTI Coordinator of Nimapara block Santosh Pradhan.