JAGATSINGHPUR: Throwing an open challenge to police, unidentified criminals hacked a shopkeeper to death at Jogadhari chowk on the Cuttack-Nuagaon National Highway under Jagatsinghpur police limits late on Friday evening, sending shockwaves in the area.
The victim, 38-year-old Gyanaranjan Pothal, a resident of Gopa village under Jagatsinghpur police limits, ran a betel shop at Jogadhari chowk. He was brutally attacked with sharp weapons.
Preliminary investigation pointed at brutality of the attack as both his knees were found hacked. Police are to yet to arrest anyone in this connection though two persons have been detained.
The murder reportedly took place between 10 pm and 10.30 pm. Pothal’s body was lying in a pool of blood for sometime before family members came looking for him. The real concern was that the heinous crime took place barely one kilometre from the local police station and the SP office.
The circuit house and several government offices are located near Jogadhari chowk, yet assailants managed to escape after committing the crime, which has spread fear among the residents and business community.
According to reports, Pothal usually returned home between 8 pm and 9 pm after closing his shop. When he did not return by 10.30 pm, his wife, Swapna Shree Nayak, tried calling him, but got no response. Accompanied by a neighbour, she went to the shop and found her husband lying in a pool of blood with multiple sword injuries.
The neighbours alerted the police, and a team led by IIC Sarojkant Samal rushed to the scene. Officers recovered a blood-stained sword and a mobile phone from the spot. Preliminary investigation suggested that past enmity may have been the motive behind the murder.
Police sources said Pothal was arrested for illegally selling brown sugar last year. He was also involved in supervising sand quarry operations across local rivers. Police suspect rivalry over the brown sugar trade or disputes related to sand mining might have led to the murder.
Pothal’s brother-in-law, Surendra Biswal, lodged an FIR with Jagatsinghpur police station. The body has been sent for postmortem.
Jagatsinghpur SDPO Ajinkya Mane said, a forensic team and dog squad have been engaged to trace the culprits. Further investigation is on.