BHUBANESWAR : The 30-year-old man who allegedly killed a married woman at Bhimatangi Housing Board Colony before attempting suicide on Monday had pre-planned the crime. The trigger is believed to be an earlier relationship between them.
The accused Jagannath Pradhan of Mangalpur in Jajpur district had left his home on Monday saying that he was going to the market. But after reaching Bhubaneswar, Jagannath sent a message in his family WhatsApp group stating that he has decided to end his own life. He also blamed the victim Priyanka Priyadarshini Sahu for ruining his life in the message.
Priyanka was staying on rent at Bhimatangi Housing Board Colony phase-I area with her husband Rakesh and their three-year-old son. Jagannath visited the victim’s house and killed her by slitting her throat at about 11 am on Monday. Police seized two blood stained knives used in the crime and the suicide note written by Jagannath prior to killing Priyanka.
“My son and the woman were in a relationship before her marriage. But he did not create any trouble for her after she tied the knot. He did not make any attempts to reach out to the woman after her marriage, and instead she contacted him after giving birth to her son,” the accused’s mother told mediapersons in Mangalpur.
Jagannath was working in a private firm in Bengaluru and had returned to Odisha after the enforcement of the lockdown last year. He is currently undergoing treatment at Capital Hospital here and is likely to be discharged within five days. Police said the accused is an engineering graduate. “He is not cooperating now as his treatment is on.
A team left for Mangalpur on the day and efforts are on to collect digital and other evidence of the crime,” said a police officer. Police have seized the mobile phone of Jagannath through which he had sent the photograph of the victim to her husband on WhatsApp.