BHUBANESWAR: Charred remains of a person, believed to be the missing teacher Mamita Meher, were recovered from Mahaling Stadium in Kalahandi district by police on Tuesday after investigators received a tipoff from the locals.
Police suspect the site was carefully chosen because it was the ideal place to hide the crime since it was under construction, eerily lifted from the plot of Mohanlal starrer film Drishyam in which the protagonist buried the body in an under-construction police station. Police suspected that the victim could have been possibly killed and buried in Mahaling stadium.
The stadium, spread over a large area, is secured by a boundary wall. “Police questioned locals and some slum dwellers living near the stadium regarding the matter. They informed seeing flames inside the stadium late on October 8 night,” sources added.
Over six teams of Kalahandi and Balangir Police had launched a massive search operation to trace Mamita who went missing on October 8.
Kalahandi SP Saravana Vivek M was present during the search operation since Monday when police looked out for the 24-year-old missing teacher in forests and road sides. During searches, the police also stumbled upon an animal bone.
The SP went to the spot on Monday night and the police decided to carry out a search operation in the stadium the next morning.
“Searches were conducted in two to three places of the stadium. In one place, the remains of the victim and her articles were recovered. Wooden logs were also found on the spot,” said a senior police officer.
Police suspect it to be a planned murder allegedly committed by Sunshine English Medium School’s managing committee president Gobinda Sahu as he reportedly drove his car on the day and had asked his driver to stay back.
“The victim was possibly killed first and then buried in the stadium. Her body was likely kept on a wooden log, set on fire and then covered under the ground,” said sources. Meanwhile, the police said the sequence of the crime can be ascertained after interrogating Gobinda.