Paikamal: Police arrested Friday Mahadeb Bariha for allegedly killing a 65-year old man by bludgeoning his head with a stone following an altercation Wednesday. The incident took place at Bhubaneswarpur village under this block in Bargarh district. The body of the deceased, identified as Purnachandra Sahu, was recovered from a sparsely forested area, police said. Both the deceased and the alleged murderer belonged to the same village.
Officials said that Purnachandra and Mahadeb were involved in a heated argument Wednesday at Bhubaneswarpur market. While they were returning home, Mahadeb allegedly picked up a large stone lying on the road and used it to smash Purnachandra’s head. The latter died on the spot. Then Mahadeb returned home. In the meanwhile, Purnachandra’s family members launched a frantic search for him as he did not return home. The same day his son Hirachand lodged a missing complaint at the Paikamal police station. The next day Hirachand continued to search for his father and he found the latter’s body in a pool of blood under a tree just 150 metres away from Bhubaneswarpur-Cherimunda road. Police then visited the spot along with a forensic team and a sniffer dog. They also sent the body for post-mortem.
During the investigation, police got the information that Purnachandra and Mahadeb were involved in an argument. They detained Mahadeb for questioning. During interrogation, Mahadeb confessed to his crime and the cops arrested him. Later a case (No-105/24) was registered at the Paikamal police station in this regard and the accused was forwarded to court Friday, informed IIC, Sushant Kumar Badhei.