BHUBANESWAR/MAYURBHANJ: A 32-year-old man who ‘plotted’ his fake abduction to extort Rs 50 lakh from his parental uncle was allegedly murdered by his accomplice over sharing of the ransom money in a bizarre twist of events in Mayurbhanj district.
The deceased was identified as Chandan Kumar Swain of Kendrapara’s Hindulia. Swain, police said, was allegedly murdered by his friend Ashish Singh (22) of Mayurbhanj’s Jambani village.
Ashish was arrested along with his associate Karama Singh by Baripada sadar police on Friday. The matter came to light after locals discovered Chandan’s half-burnt body and alerted police about the matter on Thursday.
Baripada Sadar police launched a probe and established the deceased’s identity after recovering a piece of paper consisting phone numbers from his pocket. The cops also found out that Kharavela Nagar police in Bhubaneswar had registered a case on December 25 in connection with the purported kidnapping of Chandan after receiving a complaint from his cousin brother Deepak Swain. The cops joined the dots after getting suspicious about the matter.
Tracking the call details, police zeroed in on Ashish and picked him up from Balasore. During interrogation, he spilled the beans.
Preliminary probe revealed Chandan was working as a supervisor in his uncle Bansidhar Swain’s garments factory in Bengaluru since the last three years. Ashish was also employed in the same factory and the duo had become friends.
Chandan quit the job recently and reached Bhubaneswar on December 17. He purchased a new SIM card and contacted Ashish asking him to meet him in the capital city.
Police said Chandan reportedly was in dire need of money as he wanted to start his own garments business and revealed his fake kidnapping plan to Ashish, seeking his help in the crime. However, Ashish was agitated after Chandan told him that he would take the lion’s share of the ransom.
Police said, both left for Baripada on December 21 morning and were joined there by Karama. The trio went to Budhabalanga river bank where Chandan and Karama consumed alcohol and discussed the kidnapping plan. This is when the two friends had a fight over the ransom share and Ashish slit Chandan’s throat using a knife. With the help of Karama, he buried the half-burnt body of the deceased on the river bank and threw the weapon of offence in the water.