Bhubaneswar: A group of bike-borne miscreants hacked a man to death near the Rasulgarh Flyover under Mancheswar police limits in Bhubaneswar Wednesday, police said.
The police have detained three suspects and are searching for two main accused.
This daylight murder has rocked Bhubaneswar as the city is under a heavy security blanket for the three-day Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention from January 8-10.
The deceased was identified as Sahadev Nayak of Kedarpalli slum under the Capital Police station area in the state capital. He was an employee of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation and a social worker. Sources said the deceased was also the president of the BMC Safai Karmachari Association.
The incident took place at around 8 am on Rasulgarh Road Over Bridge (ROB) in the city. He was intercepted by the miscreants while riding a two-wheeler from Rasulgarh towards Vani Vihar on NH-16, police said.
As per reports, Nayak was returning home after leaving his daughter at her school in the VSS Nagar area in the morning. The bike-borne miscreants, who were following the victim’s motorcycle, attacked him with a sword on the railway overbridge near Rasulgarh square. The accused persons fled the crime scene leaving Nayak in a pool of blood.
Upon being informed, police immediately reached the spot and rushed the victim to Capital Hospital where the doctors declared him dead.
The police have initiated an investigation into the case, registering a case on the basis of a complaint lodged by the deceased’s wife. She alleged that some residents of the Kedarpalli slum who are engaged in selling brown sugar killed her husband for protesting against the illegal trade of drugs in the locality.
Notably, the deceased had also worked for some time as ‘Police Mitra’ volunteering to help the city police keep slums free from crimes and drug smuggling.
Following the incident, the Opposition Biju Janata Dal Wednesday attacked the state government saying that the daylight murder, which occurred just few kilometres away from the venue of the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas convention, has exposed the collapsed law and order situation in the state under the new BJP government.
Odisha Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan assured that the accused criminals will be arrested soon by the police and the accused will get stringent punishment.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pinak Mishra informed the media persons that two prime accused persons, who also belong to the Kedarpalli slum area, have been identified and a special team has been constituted to nab them.
He also stated that three suspected persons have been detained by police in connection with the case. Mishra said that the police found during the primary investigation that past rivalry between the victim and accused could be the reason for the attack.
PNN & Agencies