BERHAMPUR: A 29-year-old youth, on the run after being charged with raping a minor in 2019, has been arrested for the August 10 murder of a woman at Srimaa Nagar in Nimakhandi area of Berhampur, police said on Tuesday.
The accused had also attempted to murder the minor daughter of the victim on that day. The arrested youth, Santanu Patra of Srijanga village under Khantapada police limits in Balasore district, was arrested from Karnataka.
Santanu, who was absconding after raping his cousin in 2019, was wanted for the murder of Gayatri Swain (32) on August 10. He was apprehended at Wadi railway station in Karnataka’s Kalaburagi district on August 16 and brought to Nimakhandi police station on Tuesday, said Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M.
He had changed his name to Sunil Swain and had prepared an Aadhaar card to support his fake identity. The assumed identity mentioned his native as Manikpur village under Badagada police limits in Ganjam district, said the SP.
His role in the murder case came to the fore from the CCTV footage which captured his entry and exit. On August 11, Gayatri’s brother Chitrasen Swain informed police stating that his sister and her daughter Neelam Swain (11) were found with critical injuries at their rented house in Srimaa Nagar.
During investigation, it was ascertained that accused Santanu was in contact with Gayatri through Facebook since 2019. At that time, he was working in Mumbai while Gayatri, her husband Sadhu Charan Swain (37) and daughter Neelam were living in Koraput, said police.
Later, both Santanu and Gayatri became intimate and decided to meet at Berhampur. Gayatri even arranged a rented house for him near her in-laws’ residence at Raghupati Nagar in Berhampur. Thereafter, both eloped to Mumbai.
The SP said after staying in Mumbai for 10 days, Gayatri returned to Berhampur and reconciled with her husband. However, as her in-laws did not accept her, the couple and their daughter moved to a rented house.
While Sadhu was transferred to Bhubaneswar later, Gayatri resumed contact with the accused and suggested him to come to Berhampur again. With her help, Santanu opened a vegetable shop at Lochapada and secretly visited Gayatri’s rented house at Srimaa Nagar. However, due to some misunderstanding, Gayatri started ignoring him and did not take his phone calls.
Humiliated, Santanu planned to murder Gayatri. On August 10, the accused arrived at Gayatri’s rented house and killed her after an argument and even tried to eliminate her daughter Neelam.
During interrogation, Sunil revealed his original name to be Santanu. After raping his minor cousin in 2019, he had absconded and started working in Mumbai.
The accused was produced in court and will be brought on remand for further questioning, the SP added.
Case details
Santanu was absconding after raping his minor cousin sister in 2019
He came in contact with Gayatri through Facebook and both became intimate
Accused arrived at Gayatri’s rented house and killed her. He even tried to eliminate her daughter Neelam