Buguda: Police Friday arrested the main accused in the case related to a bomb attack at a former sarpanch’s house and the subsequent killing of his son at Sorad village under Buguda police limits in Ganjam district.
The accused was identified as Krushna Sethy. Two others involved in the firing are on the run since the incident, police said adding that the two absconders would be arrested soon.
The deceased was identified as Saroj Pradhan, son of former sarpanch of Sorad grampanchayat, Khadal Pradhan.
Police have registered a case of murder and produced Sethy in court after he confessed to the crime during interrogation, Buguda IIC Ramchandra Biswal said. He was subsequently remanded to judicial custody when the court rejected his bail plea. The murder was fallout of an old enmity, preliminary investigations revealed.
According to sources, the families of Saroj and Sethy were at loggerheads over various issues since years. Both the families were into contract works and fought fiercely over contracts.
Saroj had bagged the contract of constructing a dam that had irked Sethy. In an act of revenge, Sethy along with his two friends planned to eliminate Saroj.
As per their plan, Sethy and his accomplices arrived at the sarpanch’s house on a motorbike and hurled three bombs thinking Saroj was inside the house. However, they spotted Saroj returning home after a bath in a pond and attacked him. They fired three bullets at him and fled the spot.
Saroj was first admitted to Bhanjanagar sub-divisional hospital and later shifted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur. When his condition worsened, he was shifted to a city-based hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.