JAJPUR: Police on Tuesday claimed to have solved the murder of 28-year-old photo studio owner Deepak Sahu of Sobara village with the arrest of two of his former employees.
The accused are Sridhar Kabi (24) of Sobara and Biswaranjan Pattanaik (23) of Puruna Bandhagoda village in neighbouring Keonjhar district. Both of them used to work in Omm digital film studio owned by Deepak.
Briefing the media, Jajpur SP Yashpratap Srimal said the murder was a fallout of previous enmity over a financial dispute between the accused and Deepak. The accused duo argued with the photo studio owner over some money. They were in search of an opportunity to eliminate him.
On Saturday night, the duo came to the studio and called Deepak who was sleeping inside. When he opened the door, they went inside and locked the door. They first tied Deepak’s hand with an electric wire and killed him after smashing his head with a stone. The accused looted computers, cameras and other valuable items from the studio and fled, the SP said.
Deepak’s body was found lying in a pool of blood inside the studio on Sunday morning. On being informed, police reached the crime scene and started an investigation.
Srimal said police got the lead from call details of the deceased’s mobile phone which was recovered from the studio. During the investigation, it was found that Sridhar had called Deepak at around midnight on the fateful night. By tracking Sridhar’s mobile phone, police managed to arrest him from Keonjhar. Basing on his statement, police nabbed Biswaranjan from Bhubaneswar.
The SP said the accused were arrested under relevant sections of BNS and produced in court on the day. Further investigation is underway.