NUAPADA: Police on Friday arrested a 44-year-old man on charges of murdering his 80-year-old uncle who was brutally killed in front of the residence of Nuapada SP on March 2.
The accused was identified as 44-year-old Omkar Sahu, son of the younger brother of deceased Sukhlal Sahu. The motive behind the murder was property dispute.
Briefing the media, Nuapada SP Gudala Reddy Raghavendra said the accused was having a feud with his uncle over family property. Omkar owned a piece of ancestral land at the back of Sukhlal’s property.
He wanted to sell it and was frequently asking his uncle to provide a common road to the land. However, Sukhlal declined his requests leading to a dispute between the two.
This apart, many villagers accused Sukhlal of practising sorcery and were opposing his activities. Aggrieved by these issues, the accused planned to eliminate his uncle. In the wee hours of March 2, Sukhlal was returning home after collecting mahua flowers from the forest when Omkar intercepted him in front of the SP’s residence.
Without any provocation, he attacked his uncle with a crowbar multiple times, killing him on the spot. Though the security guard deployed at the SP’s residence rushed to the scene, the accused managed to escape. The deceased had at least seven injury marks on his body, said Raghavendra.
“The accused committed the crime in an inebriated state. Following the incident, a team comprising additional SP Ranjit Nayak along with Jonk and Nuapada IICs launched an investigation and scanned footage of CCTV cameras installed in the area. After interrogating around 20 suspects, the accused was identified and arrested. During questioning, Omkar confessed to the crime,” he said.
The SP appealed to the owners of business establishments to install at least one CCTV camera facing towards the road as it will help police in investigating such crimes.