BHUBANESWAR/BHADRAK: In a shocking twist to the murder of cameraman Manas Swain, police on Monday arrested Niranjan Sethi, a retired officer of the Odisha government who once served as public relations officer (PRO) with the Governor and Chief Minister’s office.
The Odisha Information Service (OIS) officer was allegedly present when Swain was forcibly brought to an old age home in Bhubaneswar where he was beaten to death and his body disposed of in Nayagarh district, Additional SP of Bhadrak Jatin Panda told the mediapersons.
Niranjan had last month retired as Director (Technical) of Information and Public Relations department. He was the Raj Bhavan PRO when Gopala Ramanujan was Governor between February 13-December 13, 1997. He had also worked as PRO of former chief minister Giridhar Gamang between February 17, 1999 and December 6 the same year.
So far, police have arrested five persons in connection with the case - Niranjan, Ranjan Nayak, Bhagyadhar Nayak, Bibek Nayak and Krushna Chandra Nayak. However, the alleged mastermind of the crime, Sarmistha Rout, a Bhubaneswar-based web channel and vernacular periodical Sampurna’s editor, is still absconding. Manas had earlier worked with the web channel of Sarmistha for about six months but quit in January after a fallout with her.
Why he quit and what led to his murder remains under investigation but Sethi’s links have opened a can of worms in the I and PR department because he is believed to have facilitated accreditation for Sarmistha’s vernacular daily.
The periodical was allegedly recommended for government accreditation during the last days of Niranjan’s tenure as Director (Technical). It was given an advertisement tariff which was also higher than other periodicals, sources say. How all this escaped the notice of the higher-ups of the department remains a mystery.
Police said initial investigation suggests that Manas was murdered as he was in possession of a memory chip having some sensitive content related to some high profile people.Manas had visited Palashpur village in Bhadrak district on February 6 to shoot a wedding. He was on his way to Digachhia on a two-wheeler the next morning when at least five persons - Sarmistha, another woman, Ranjan, Bhagyadhar and Bibek waylaid him.
Sarmistha asked Manas for the memory chip. When he said the memory chip was in Bhubaneswar, they bundled the cameraman into the car and took him to an elderly people’s shelter home - Dayal Ashram, run by Sarmistha, near Sundarpada. Manas was confined in a two-storeyed building for the entire day on February 7 where he was allegedly assaulted. While the shelter home for the elderly people is running on the ground floor, the first floor of the building is lying vacant.
The accused served Manas dinner on February 7 night and left the building. They found him dead when they returned to the spot the next day.According to police, the culprits buried Manas’ body near Nayagarh district’s Budhipatna area at about 8 pm on February 8. Niranjan was aware and part of all the planning related to kidnapping as well as disposal of the body, police said.
In an attempt to mislead investigators, one of the accused Krushna wrote a letter posing as Manas. In the forged letter purportedly written by Manas, it was mentioned that he admitted to his mistake, returned the ‘stolen’ memory chip to Sarmistha after which she asked him to leave.
Bhagyadhar, Bibek and Krushna were apprehended on March 12, following which the body remains of Manas were recovered the same day. “Sarmistha has direct involvement in the murder. Raids are being carried out in various places to trace and nab her,” said an officer of Bhadrak Police. Chandbali Police had registered a case under Sections 301, 302, 363, 364, 467, 471 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code on February 14 and further investigation is continuing. Manas, a native of Nayagarh district’s Ranpur, is survived by his wife and their three-year-old son.