BHUBANESWAR: A 32-year-old man was found dead under mysterious circumstances at Chandaka-Baranga Road near Daruthenga on the city outskirts on Saturday. The deceased, identified as Bidyadhar Sahoo (32) of Aranga village in Khurda, had reportedly gone missing since September 15.
Passersby spotted Sahoo’s body on the roadside and informed the police, who rushed to the spot and sent it to a hospital for a postmortem. The identity was ascertained from the documents recovered from his body.
Sahoo’s family members claimed he was murdered after abduction. They had reportedly received a threat call from some persons on September 15 who said they had abducted him and demanded over Rs 2 crore ransom for his release. His wife Mamina Khatua lodged a complaint in Badagada police station on Friday. Police’s initial investigation revealed Sahoo worked as a driver for an online cab services firm. He also worked as a driver for a woman residing under the Badagada police station. The woman runs a job consultancy firm in the city. Sahoo also assisted with her office work.
As the probe progressed, police examined his call detail records and the CCTV footage. They found that a group of at least four to five persons had apprehended Sahoo and taken him to Jajpur in his cab. They then confined him in a house there and made a threat call to his family demanding Rs 2 crore.
Basing on the technical evidence, police detained one accused on Saturday. He claimed that Sahoo and the woman running the consultancy firm, along with their other associates, had cheated many youths hailing from various districts in Odisha on the promise of providing them jobs. He even said Sahoo had taken more than Rs 2 crore from several youths but could not provide them the jobs. The accused admitted that he and four others had abducted Sahoo as he was not returning their money, said police sources.
During interrogation, the accused alleged that as Sahoo had no money, he died by suicide by hanging in the house where they held him captive. He also said fearing arrest, they disposed of Sahoo’s body and abandoned his vehicle at an isolated stretch near Chandaka, said a police officer.
DCP Jagmohan Meena said a case of murder has been registered and one suspect detained. Efforts are on to nab the others.