ROURKELA: Rourkela seems to be in the grip of a murder epidemic as another brutal killing of a 60-year-old man rocked the steel city on Sunday night.
Twenty-two-year-old Bishnu Verma beat his father Kranti Kumar Verma to death with an iron pipe at Bhalupatra village in Brahmani Tarang, around 10 km from Rourkela city.
Kranti, a convicted felon, was released from jail in December 2024. Police attributed the murder to Bishnu’s personal dislike for his father who had murdered his grandmother in 2009.
This is the fifth murder in Rourkela and its nearby areas in the last five days. The city witnessed three murders and one culpable homicide in quick succession along with two killings in Brahmani Tarang and Mohulpada areas between April 9 and 13.
Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani said the accused youth attacked his father in the head with an iron pipe leading to his death. Kranti was convicted for life for murdering his mother in 2009 and was released from jail in December last year.
The SP said the accused told investigators that he was angry with his father for murdering his grandmother. After returning from jail, Kranti used to behave violently with him and was also harassing village women. The youth’s anger coupled with hatred towards his father resulted in the crime.
Police said the father-son duo had a fierce quarrel following which Bishnu assaulted Kranti with the iron pipe. The deceased’s body was found lying in a pool of blood on the village road around 500 metre from his house.
On being informed, a police team led by Panposh SDPO Ambit Mohanty along with the scientific team seized the body, detained the accused son and recovered the iron pipe. Wadhwani said the accused was working as daily wager and his criminal antecedent, if any, was being verified.
When asked about the back-to-back murders, the SP said four of the five crimes took place over personal reason. In all these crimes, police took prompt action in arresting the accused persons. The murder of a youth during group clash at VSS market complex within Chhend police limits was a law and order issue. Police have arrested most of the accused youths and taken stringent action to create deterrence against criminals, he added.