KEONJHAR: Keonjhar police on Wednesday detained a 19-year-old youth who is believed to be the mastermind in the alleged gang-rape and murder of a minor girl at Tentalapasi village under Harichandanpur block in Keonjhar district.
The suspect, Sagar Nayak of Badakamandra village, was detained on basis of the complaint filed by the 17-year-old victim’s father. While he is being interrogated, police said three more miscreants are believed to be involved in the incident.
According to the complaint, the father returned home at around 7 pm on Monday and could not find his daughter in the house. When he contacted her on her mobile phone, the victim said she was nearby and would return soon. However, when she did not come home by late night and her phone was found switched off, the worried family launched a search.
On Tuesday morning, the girl’s body was found hanging from a tree in a paddy field near her house. One of her sisters alleged that the girl was wearing a different set of clothes than the one she had on when she left home. She further alleged that certain drugs were also found at crime scene.
Keonjhar SP Kusalkar Nitin Dagudu said, “The victim’s body was handed over to the family after postmortem. Efforts are on to nab others miscreants involved in the crime. Further action will be taken on basis of the autopsy report.”
On the day, a delegation of BJD comprising Ghasipur MLA and former minister Badrinarayan Patra, party’s district president Ashish Chakravarthy and former MP Madhab Sardar met the victim’s family and expressed condolences. Later, they also submitted a four-point charter of demands to the SP urging the police to arrest the culprits at the earliest and take strict action against them.
Similarly, a delegation of Congress comprising former MP Yasobanta Laguri and the party’s state general secretary Subarna Naik met the victim’s family.