BARIPADA: Mayurbhanj police on Monday arrested a woman and her husband on the charge of murdering her paramour whose decomposed body was recovered from an abandoned well near Teranti village in Raruan on March 6.
The accused are Biswanath Behera (33) and his wife Rashmita (29) of Pandarasila within Raruan police limits. The couple allegedly killed Niranjan Naik (42) of Turumunga in Keonjhar district as he was having an extra-marital affair with Rashmita.
Police said Niranjan, an auto-rickshaw driver by profession, had developed an illicit affair with Rashmita for the last several years and both used to meet secretly at different places. He also provided financial assistance to the woman regularly.
Biswanath grew suspicious after finding his wife frequently chatting with someone on the phone and also remaining absent from home without informing him. When he confronted Rashmita, the latter admitted to having an extra-marital affair with Niranjan. Biswanath then managed to convince his wife to eliminate Niranjan.
According to their plan, Rashmita called Niranjan to meet her near Teranti village on February 27. The victim reached the spot and found Rashmita with her husband. A heated argument ensued following which the couple assaulted Niranjan with a stone and a stick, killing him on the spot. The couple then tied Niranjan’s limbs, stuffed his body in a gunny bag and dumped it in an abandoned well near the village.
On March 6, some villagers grazing cattle in a nearby field were alerted after sensing foul smell emanating from the abandoned well. They reached the spot and found the gunny bag lying inside. They immediately informed Raruan police who rushed to the spot and found the decomposed body.
Raraun IIC Sumanta Sethy said photos of the body were shared with nearby police stations. It was found that Niranjan’s wife Kusumita Naik had filed a report of her missing husband in Turumunga police station in neighbouring Keonjhar district. Subsequently, Kusumita was brought to Raruan to identify the body.
Sethy said involvement of the accused couple in the murder was ascertained with the help of Cyber police. The accused were detained and during interrogation, they confessed to their crime. A murder case was registered on basis of Kusumita’s complaint and the accused couple was arrested and produced in court.