BHUBANESWAR: Tussle over a monetary dispute took an ugly turn after a man killed his co-worker in a flour mill in Rental Colony here on Saturday night. The deceased is Dilip Sahoo (41) of Nayagarh district. The accused Chintu Jena has been arrested from an area near Niali in Cuttack district on Sunday.
According to police, Sahoo was working in the flour mill of one Pramod Subudhi in Rental Colony under Nayapalli police limits for the last few months where Jena was also employed. Sahoo had borrowed Rs 10,000 from Jena for Savitri Brata.
The two were staying in the flour mill after work. On Saturday night they had an argument over returning the money, following which a scuffle ensued and Jena stabbed Sahoo in the neck with a knife. To cover up the crime, Jena wrapped Sahoo’s body in a sack and packed it in a cardboard box before fastening it with a belt, police said.Jena later dumped the body on the premises of the office of Assistant Director of Horticulture in Ekamra Kanan area and fled.
On Sunday morning, when Subudhi’s son opened the mill he found both Sahoo and Jena missing. He searched for the duo only to find Sahoo’s body in the backyard of the horticulture office, which is a few metres away from the flour mill.
Subudhi’s son then informed police and Sahoo’s body was recovered. Suspecting Jena’s involvement, police swung into action. Sahoo’s left knee, right elbow and waist had bruises possibly because the accused had dragged his body while disposing it of.
“Acting on public information, we nabbed Jena when he was going towards Niali,” Nayapalli IIC Arun Kumar Swain said, adding that it has been ascertained the crime was committed over monetary dispute. Though Jena has confessed about the murder, police have so far not recovered the knife used in the crime. Police have registered a murder case and further investigation is on.
Citizens feel unsafe
With such unsuspected crimes being reported, the citizens in the area are feeling unsafe. There is not a single day when crime is not committed in their locality. A tea stall vendor, who is running his business near the horticulture office for the last three decades, said every other day people are being targeted by criminals in Ekamra Kanan area, Rental Colony and VIP Colony. “Bike-borne miscreants have created havoc the area.
Fearing them, I am not travelling on two-wheeler as I open the shop at 4 am everyday,” he said. The tea stall vendor cited many recent incidents of snatching in the area during late nights and early mornings, and said the victims revealed about the crimes when they came to his shop. “Some bike borne-miscreants waylaid two elderly men while they were going for a morning walk in Ekamra Kanan area recently and snatched a gold ring from one of them.
In another incident a few days back, bike-borne miscreants waylaid two women and assaulted one of them before snatching a gold chain from her,” he said. A staff of a water tank, situated in Rental Colony, said three bike-borne miscreants came to the area and attempted to loot his colleague, but on being confronted they left the spot. The locals also pointed out that the road leading to Kalinga Studio Square from Ekamra Kanan is a den of anti-socials, but the police have turned a blind eye towards the rising crimes in the area.