BERHAMPUR: Rayagada police on Wednesday arrested a 25-year-old youth on charges of murdering a history-sheeter whose body with his left palm chopped off was found from the railway colony slum in Ambadola two days back.
Police said Basant Kumbhar of Ambadola is the prime accused in the brutal murder of Simanchal Sahu (28), a criminal. Another accused, Ajit Mohanty (26), involved in the crime is absconding.
Ambadola IIC Kalpana Behera said on January 25, police recovered Simanchal’s body with his head smashed and left palm chopped off, from the railway colony slum. During postmortem, a bullet was found lodged in the smashed head of Simanchal.
During investigation, police found Basant roaming in the slum suspiciously and nabbed him on Tuesday night. During interrogation, he broke down and confessed to his crime. The accused told police that he murdered Simanchal with the help of Ajit over previous enmity .
Police said Basant, Ajit and Simanchal were staying in the railway colony slum and indulged in crimes. Around six years ago, Simanchal had assaulted Ajit and Basant over some dispute. He also reportedly attacked Basant’s mother and sister and looted their gold ornaments. Following the incident, Basant and Ajit left Ambadola and were staying in Titilagarh. The duo was waiting for an opportunity to eliminate Simanchal.
The IIC said last week, Ajit procured a country-made revolver from Bihar and the accused duo reached the railway colony. On the fateful day, Ajit opened fire on Simanchal aiming at his head, while Basant attacked him with a sword and chopped off his left palm. After Simanchal collapsed, the duo smashed his head with a boulder and fled the spot.
Basant was produced in court and efforts are underway to nab Ajit, the IIC added.