Jagatsinghpur: They were in love for as long as five years. They decided to remain united for the rest of their lives. Their families had even accepted their decision. Everything was going well till a slight misunderstanding crept up between them and the love story ended with a pathetic climax as lover killed his fiancé and is now behind the bars.
This is the story of Kishore Aanchal alias Raja and nurse Niharika Patra that has been hugging headlines since past week.
What made the love sour
Had Raja understood the reality why Niharika had been delaying the marriage date, the two families would not have gone through the bad phases that they are presently undergoing. Niharika was the sole earning member of her family and on the other side; Raja’s family had a lot of hope on him.
The parents of Niharika are not keeping well these days. Their financial condition is not well either. Niharika was taking care of her younger brother’s future. And she had been in distress over Raja being unemployed. Yet she had faith on him that he would find a job, and they would lead a happy life. All her dreams went haywire. Her parents — Pratima Patra and Gagan Patra from Bhingarpur village in Khurda district – are mourning the loss of their daughter. “Who will now take care of us,” Gagan asked in a choked voice.
Niharika had been working at MM Nursing Home for four years. It was August 8. Niharika received a call from Raja at about 4:38pm. He asked her to go on joyride. Without giving a second thought or doubting Raja’s heinous intention, innocent Niharika went out of the Nursing Home and rode pillion on his motorcycle and went on a journey, which turned out to be her last. The CCTV captured Raja’s arrival and departure with Niharika till the duo went out of the camera’s coverage area.
As Niharika did not reach the nursing home even after a long wait, the authorities called her on her mobile but the call could not reach through. Then Raja’s number was tried. Raja claimed to have dropped her near the nursing home.
Police handled the case casually
Finding no other way out, the nursing home authorities lodged a complaint with Madhupatna police station. The police, instead of showing any alacrity, just booked a missing case and allegedly did nothing.
Back at Niharika’s home, after coming to know about Niharika going missing, her parents called up Raja and got the same answer as the nursing home from him. Niharika’s mother lodged another complaint with the Madhupatna police station August 10 accusing Raja of kidnapping their daughter. Even after that, the police are alleged to have handled the case casually.
Dead body found after nine days
Niharika was murdered September 8, the same day she went out with Raja. Her body was found from the Biluakhai riverbed near Hajipur Nuapari under Biridi police limits September 17, nine days after her murder. Some local residents spotted the gunny sack from where a stench was emanating. Immediately Biridi police were informed about the sighting.
The cops found a decomposed body with limbs tied and face damaged beyond recognition. On being informed, Niharika’s brother, mother and some staff of MM Nursing Home rushed to the spot and identified the body as that of Niharika’s from its construction, clothes and a cotton band tied around her left wrist. On the direction of Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police, a murder case was registered and a postmortem was carried out.
The body was handed over to the family after the postmortem at SCB Medical College and Hospital.
How the murder was planned
Raja befriended Sunil Sahu of Kendala village, the village of Raja’s maternal uncle. Sunil stayed with his sister at a rented accommodation on the ground floor of a building at Chauliaganj in Cuttack. The owner of the house stays on the first floor.
Raja knew that Sunil and his sister would go to Kendala to attend festivities there (Khudurukuni Osha). He had collected the key of the room from Sunil before they left. On the fateful day, Raja took Niharika to Sunil’s room. They had a chit chat there. Later, Raja lost his cool and killed Niharika by strangulating her. This has been confirmed in the post-mortem report. Raja threw her mobile phone onto the ground destroying it in the process to eliminate evidence.
After murdering her, Raja put the body into a gunny sack and tied its open end with a rope. Then he tied the body to his motorcycle and went towards his village at about 8:00pm. As it was raining, there was hardly any traffic on the road. He took the canal road after crossing Aparnanagar and Nuabazaar bridge. As the canal road is generally deserted at night, he preferred the road. He went till Athanga and then proceeded 100 metres right and then left to reach Biluakhai river. He had to stop on the way many times to tighten the rope as it kept coming undone. He then threw the body into the river, which was in spate due to rain.
He returned the Chauliaganj house key to Sunil at about 12:30am.
On reaching his village Raja spent the night at his house. The next morning he confided in his father at the latter’s dhaba at Athanga.
On the other hand, Sunil and his sister returned to their Chauliaganj room September 14 and found a bed sheet missing. They also found an ear ring lying there. Then the matter surfaced.
Raja’s family members and friends were in knowledge of the incident
Raja’s father, mother, younger brother and some villagers knew that Raja had killed Niharika. But they tried to suppress the matter. Raja even spent days till September 12 at his uncle’s at Kendala and enjoyed a village fair.
The villain tries to flee
Raja knew a person from Balikuda village who stays in Chennai. That person is a relative of one of his friends. So he requested his friend to arrange a room for him for few days in Chennai by asking his relative. He then left for Chennai September 14 carrying Rs 3,000. He hired a taxi from his village to Bhubaneswar and from there boarded a Chennai bound train. Prior to this, he had purchased a mobile phone and SIM card. He had left his old phone behind at home and was using the new phone and number in Chennai.
How Raja was arrested
Raja in Chennai was disturbed when the police threatened to arrest his brother and parents. The police made best use of this. They mounted pressure on Raja’s family to ask him to return the village. As a result, Raja reached Bhubaneswar railway station in Shalimar Express at about 11:30am, September 20. His mother was there to receive him. They were returning home in a car. The police, previously waiting at Hajipur square in anticipation of their arrival, stopped the car and took Raja into custody.
PNN