Kendrapara: A man named Sashikanta Mohanty, 30, alias Forester of Kandia village, was arrested by Rajnagar police for his alleged involvement in the January 21 murder of Khirod Sethy in Kandira, IIC Sukant Kumar Patra said.
Sashikanta, who was a prawn gherry owner and the mastermind of the crime, was nabbed from Hansua bridge.
Sashikanta took the help of his relative’s brother Prabira Swain alias Sipun, who was the leader of the Sapa gang, to eliminate Hemant Sethy, a prawn gherry owner, due to a business rivalry.
Sipun went to Kandira January 21 with two single shot pistols to kill Hemant, said IIC Patra.
Sipun and two of his associates came in a car to Kandira and unleashed terror after asking Rabindra Sethy, the uncle of Hemant, about the whereabouts of his nephew.
The villagers managed to overpower Sipun with the help of Rabindra Sethy and his nephew, Hemant Sethy, and detained him in the village. They also seized two loaded pistols from him, tied him up and assaulted him.
The two associates who came with Sipun managed to escape. The villagers later handed over the two revolvers to the police.
After half an hour, his associates who were members of his gang, came on two bikes and started terrorizing the villagers near Rabindra Sethy’s village to rescue Sipun.
The Sapa gang fired three bullets at villagers. One bullet missed, but the second one killed a dog and the next one killed Kishore Sethy. The bullet was fired by Bikram.
The villagers handed over Sipun to the police and he was remanded to custody Tuesday.
Sanjay Biswal alias Babu, of Patrapur village, an associate of Sipun, was injured in an encounter with the police Tuesday near Kurunti Chowk on Gupti-Rajnagar Road while he was trying to escape after firing a round at the police.
The police team fired three rounds at Babu. He was injured seriously and two rounds pierced his left knee. Babu is now undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
With the arrest of Sashikanta Mohanty, Rajnagar police have nabbed all the three involved in the murder of Khirod Sethy.
PNN