BHUBANESWAR: Just two days ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the State Capital, a BJP leader was shot dead in Khurda, around 25 km from the City, late on Sunday night.
The deceased was identified as president of BJP’s Khurda (Zone-9) Mandal president Manguli Jena.
While the accused involved in the crime are yet to be arrested, a Crime Branch (CB) team and forensic officials have started assisting Khurda Police in the investigation of the murder case.
“IG Central Range SK Priyadarshi is also monitoring the probe and all efforts are on to identify and nab the culprits,” said DGP in-charge BK Sharma.
Manguli was returning from the house of BJP’s Khurda Assembly constituency candidate Kalu Khandayatray with his brother Bishnu Charan Jena when he was waylaid by two bike-borne miscreants near Nabin Bag area and shot at point blank range .
“I was behind the wheel and my brother was sitting beside me. A man suddenly opened fire at the car’s left window and when Manguli tried to snatch the gun, he was hit by a bullet,” Bishnu told this newspaper.
According to Bishnu’s FIR, after committing the crime, the shooter fled in a car which was waiting for him while the other miscreant escaped on the two-wheeler. Bishnu suspected that the incident was a fallout of political rivalry.
“In 2016, some anti-socials had attacked my brother in Nirakarpur area and his associate Chitrasena Jena was murdered in March, 2017,” he said.