ROURKELA: Sundargarh police on Sunday arrested six persons for killing an ostracised man from Chitabhanga village and chopping his body into seven pieces before disposing them of in Ib river. The victim Durga Majhi was killed by his cousin Arjun Majhi, Sundargarh SP Sagarika Nath said.
Durga and Majhi entered into a heated exchange of words after a drinking bout on the banks of Ib river on February 28 evening. An enraged Arjun along with two of his cousins then throttled Durga and cut his throat with a blade.
At around 1 am, Arjun along with three of his relatives took Durga’s body to Bhugrabahal village and cut it into seven pieces with an axe. They burnt Durga’s clothes before disposing of his body parts in the river.
Nath said Durga was staying at Chitabhanga for the last 10 years after being ostracised by his family members and relatives for keeping relationship with a woman from a different caste. She said the crime could be a result of animosity within the family on the issue.
While six of Durga’s body parts were found floating in the sand bed pit of Ib river on March 3, the torso is yet to be recovered. On January 13, a Gaon Sathi Ramesh Singh (35) was murdered and his body chopped into six pieces and disposed of in a water body at Bhawanipur within Town police limits.
On January 18, police arrested a middle-aged woman Madhabilata Singhdeo and her son-in-law for the crime. Basing on investigation, Sundargarh SP had said the woman was in an illicit relationship with Singh and when their relationship became unconducive the woman committed the crime in a fit of rage.
Businessman held for hotelier’s murder
Rourkela: A 59-year-old businessman was arrested by Plant Site police for the murder of a hotelier here on February 9. Police said the accused, Prem Modi of Deluxe Hotel Lane had conspired with Dilip Sharma to kill Sajjan Mittal. Sharma along with four other contract killers was arrested three days back in this connection. Police said Sharma had brokered a deal of a disputed land which was purchased by Modi and another businessman a year back.
Sharma had received Rs 20 lakh for the deal and was assured of another Rs 10 lakh for evicting some shopkeepers from the land. One of Mittal’s brothers owned a shop on the disputed plot and when Sharma tried to evict him, he was attacked by the hotelier in October last year. Irked over the incident, Sharma conspired with Modi and hired contract killers to eliminate Mittal. The hotelier was hit on his head with a hammer at the entrance of his house at DAV School lane on February 9.