ROURKELA: Sundargarh police on Thursday arrested 11 people for their alleged involvement in the murder of a 24-year-old youth whose body was found inside Bijadihi forest in Dharuadihi three weeks back.
The body of Chandan Dharua, a resident of Laikera in adjacent Jharsuguda district, was recovered from Bijadihi forest on January 20.
Sundargarh SP Pratyush Diwakar said it was a blind case as the identity of the deceased was not known when police recovered his body. During the investigation, police identified the youth and cracked the murder mystery by arresting the 11 accused.
He said six of the accused took active part in the murder. The rest were either involved in murder conspiracy or assisted in the crime. Footage of CCTV cameras installed along the road leading to the forest and forensic investigation helped crack the case.
Police said Dharua used to work for a tent house in Sambalpur. Some of the accused youths of his village and neighbourhood also used to work there. After a quarrel between Dharua and his coworkers, the latter conspired to eliminate him.
Accordingly, the accused successfully convinced Dharua to accompany them to a rural fair at Gobindpur village in Sambalpur’s Bamra on January 18. They made him consume alcohol and took him to Bijadihi forest where they stabbed him multiple times to death.
Seven knives used in the crime were recovered from the accused Bibek Kuanr, Arun Naik, Prakash Behera, Saroj Naik, Chandan Kuanr, Harekrishna Patra, Sumanta Kuanr, Kanha and three others. All of them were produced in court and remanded in judicial custody.