Youth kills three-year-old to settle scores with toddler’s father in Odisha

The accused, 25-year-old Sritam Munda, reportedly bludgeoned Duryodhan Munda’s son Lucky to death with a stone two days back.
Police on Tuesday arrested a youth for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a three-year-old boy to settle scores with the toddler’s father
Police on Tuesday arrested a youth for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a three-year-old boy to settle scores with the toddler’s father
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KEONJHAR: Police on Tuesday arrested a youth for allegedly kidnapping and murdering a three-year-old boy to settle scores with the toddler’s father at Munda Sahi under Nahabeda panchayat in Jhumpura block of the district.

The accused, 25-year-old Sritam Munda, reportedly bludgeoned Duryodhan Munda’s son Lucky to death with a stone two days back. He later disposed of the boy’s body in a dry canal.

Police said tribal residents of Munda Sahi celebrated Maghe festival around 10 days back. During the festival, the accused reportedly misbehaved with some women in an inebriated condition. Subsequently, the festival committee held a meeting and imposed a fine on Sritam for his act. Duryodhan played a major role in collecting the fine from the accused.

Since then, Sritam was nursing a grudge against Duryodhan and waiting for an opportunity to settle scores with him. On Sunday afternoon, the accused kidnapped Lucky when the toddler was playing near his house. He took the boy to a nearby forest and killed him with a stone. He then disposed of his body in the dry Kanpur canal near Khendra and returned home.

Meanwhile, worried family members searched for Lucky at various places but could not trace him. On Monday, Duryodhan lodged a complaint with Jhumpura police in this regard.

Basing on the complaint, police registered a case and launched efforts to find Lucky. During investigation, the cops were tipped off about Sritam’s involvement in abduction of the boy. Subsequently, the accused was brought to the police station.

Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Champua Bijay Kumar Mallick said during interrogation, the accused confessed to his crime. On Tuesday, he was taken to the forest and Kanpur canal for recreation of the crime scene.

The toddler’s body was recovered in presence of Jhumpura tehsildar Rohit Bagh and IIC Somabari Hansda. Police arrested the accused and sent the body to the hospital for postmortem, the SDPO added.

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