BHUBANESWAR: Balangir police have recovered the CCTV footage in which Gobinda Sahu can be seen accompanying lady teacher of Sunshine English Medium School Mamita Meher for shopping in Bhawanipatna, hours before her brutal murder on October 8.
Police have obtained CCTV footage of three places where the accused and victim were spotted together. A senior investigator informed The New Indian Express that Gobinda and Mamita went to three shops in Bhawanipatna. In the CCTV footage, she could be seen relaxed and in good spirits. The footage further reveals that Mamita purchased a T-shirt, a book and pastries, and Gobinda was with her all along.
A resident of Jharni village in Balangir's Tureikela block, Mamita was allegedly asked to come to the school for some official work by Gobinda who is the institution's managing committee president.
"While returning from Bhawanipatna to Kegaon, Gobinda strangulated her. The accused who got the contract for levelling work at Mahaling stadium, had asked one of his staff Pushkar Bhoi to dig a pit there on October 7. The entire murder was pre-panned," a senior police officer said.
The accused then dumped all the belongings of the victim, including her mobile phone, in the pit. He set Mamita's body afire and then buried her in the stadium. Charred remains alleged to be of Mamita were recovered from Mahaling stadium on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, police have arrested Gobinda's driver Radhe Tandi for allegedly assisting him in destruction of evidence. "Radhe had arranged tyres, wooden sticks and cardboard for Gobinda. The articles were used by the prime accused to set the victim's body on fire," said the officer.
DIG (Northern Range) Deepak Kumar, Balangir SP Kusalkar Nitin Dagudu, a scientific team and other officers visited the stadium on Thursday in an attempt to recover Mamita's mobile phone, which is a crucial piece of evidence, from the crime spot.
However, they could not find the phone and suspect that the device could have melted in the pit due to the fire. On the other hand, her family members claimed that she had stored some objectionable photographs of Gobinda in her mobile phone for which he killed her.
They have handed over her laptop to police. "After Mamita's mysterious disappearance, her colleagues and students apprised us that Gobinda was running a sex racket in Anchalika Mahavidyalaya's hostel. She along with some teachers and students had also confronted Gobinda last year and warned him to stop the immoral activities," the victim's uncle Kaushik Meher alleged.
As a proof of her claims, Mamita had two photographs in her mobile phone which cost her life, he added.