Crime Branch mum on motive behind Manas’ murder
BHUBANESWAR: Even as Crime Branch continued to interrogate the four accused in cameraman Manas Swain’s murder on Wednesday, it is tight-lipped about the motive behind his killing and the contents of the memory chip that he was in possession of.
Crime Branch officers interrogated prime accused Sarmistha Rout and her three associates Jhuna Bhoi, retired Odisha Information Service (OIS) officers Niranjan Sethi and Ranjan Nayak on the day. They were questioned together.
Sarmistha, the editor of Bhubaneswar-based web-channel Sampurna and her associate Jhuna revealed before the investigators that to evade arrest they frequently changed their locations. They might also be taken to Dayal Ashram, a shelter home for elderly people in the Capital city run by Sarmistha, before their four-day remand period ends. Meanwhile, Manas’ postmortem report revealed that he was thrashed with blunt objects and his ribs were fractured due to the brutal assault.
“The doctors at SCB Medical College and Hospital’s Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department have opined that Manas died due to thoracic injuries (chest trauma) and the complications thereon,” said a senior Crime Branch officer. His autopsy report has also revealed he sustained other external and internal injuries.