DHENKANAL: Sadar police on Tuesday arrested two persons on the charge of killing a 17-year-old college girl who was found dead with her head smashed in a forest near Mangalpur village on March 1.
Dhenkanal SP Madkar Sandeep Sampat said Narayan Sahoo (25) and his accomplice Bijay Behera (35), both of Khajuri hamlet in Mangalpur, stoned the girl to death as they nursed old grudges against her father. Incidentally, Narayan is a cousin of the victim. Police have seized the blood-stained stone and clothes from the accused duo. The third accused involved in the crime is on the run.
Additional SP Suryamani Pradhan said the girl, a Plus Two first-year science student in Dhenkanal Women’s College, was murdered on February 29. After she went missing, police scanned the footage of CCTV cameras and found that Bijay picked the victim up from her coaching centre at Dhenkanal town on his motorcycle.
He took the girl to the forest where Narayan and the third accused were waiting. The trio smashed the girl’s head with a stone killing her on the spot. After committing the crime, Bijay hid his blood-stained clothes and the accused returned to their village.
Police first took Bijay into custody and during interrogation, he revealed the names of the two other accused. While Narayan was subsequently nabbed, the third accused managed to escape.
Pradhan said Bijay was holding a grudge against the victim’s father. Narayan too had a land dispute with the father. The accused duo was arrested and produced in court on the day. Efforts are underway to nab the third accused.
On February 29, the girl went to attend tuition classes in the private coaching centre but did not return home. Unable to trace her, family members lodged a missing complaint with the Dhenkanal Sadar police.