BHUBANESWAR: A day after AIIMS-Bhubaneswar employee Sudhanshu Khuntia (27) was gunned down in Sarakantara village, Khandagiri police on Tuesday arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the crime.
Police identified the accused as Sukanta Pradhan (50) alias Bhalu, Suvendu Pradhan (25) alias Chhabi, Rakesh Khuntia alias Raka and Subrat Sahoo (30) alias Kanha, all from Khandagiri area. The weapon of offence, a countrymade gun, was also seized from them. The key accused Siba Pradhan is, however, still on the run, police said.
Sudhanshu, a lab assistant at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar, was on way to work on Monday morning when he was shot dead allegedly over a prolonged land dispute. Terming it a pre-planned murder, Khandagiri police said Siba had hatched the plan to eliminate Sudhanshu along with his father Sukanta, brother Chhabi and others. The case is currently pending at the civil court in Bhubaneswar.
The key accused fired at Sudhanshu and handed over the countrymade gun to his friend Subrat through Rakesh. Rakesh helped Siba trace the movements of Sudhanshu.
As per police, Siba was the only accused present at the crime spot and shot down Sudhanshu. The rest have been arrested and produced in court for being part of the conspiracy. “A manhunt has been launched to apprehend Siba. Once the prime accused is nabbed, we will be able to know the source of the weapon,” they said.
Police said a local Parsuram Parida informed Sudhanshu’s brother Debasish that the former had been shot at and was injured. Debasish rushed to the spot with an auto-rickshaw to take him to the hospital. On the way, Sudhanshu told his brother that Siba had shot him.