Cuttack: For those enforcing the law, life is full of adventure and risks. Inspector-in-charge of Purighat police station in Cuttack town Rashmi Ranjan Sahu’s experience has been like that only. And in a long-spanning career, Sahu remembers one incident which really tested his investigative skills.
It was the murder of a minor boy way back in 2015. Sahu was then working at the Airfield police station in Bhubaneswar. “One morning around 5.00am I was informed over phone that a minor boy’s body had been found near Kargil basti. I rushed to the spot and found the body in sitting position, propped against an electric pole. I estimated the deceased’s age to be around 14 years old,” informed Sahu.
Sahu then lodged a case of unnatural death before starting probe. Initially there were no leads but Sahu in spite of severe criticism by the media, continued his investigations. Three days after the body was found a man turned up at the Airfield police station to claim that it was his son’s.
The deceased belonged to the Sweeper Colony, an area behind the post-mortem ward of Capital Hospital where the body was kept.
“The case then became a personal challenge for me,” informed Sahu. “I visited Sweeper Colony and Kargil Basti and interacted with the people. Yet I could not get any leads,” Sahu added.
But that did not stop him from seeking clues. A number of days later, a hotel owner informed Sahu that he had seen the deceased with a few friends a day before his body was found.
This was all that Sahu needed. He immediately picked up one of the boys for interrogation.
“At first he denied his involvement in the murder but under pressure broke down. He confessed that he along with three others had killed the deceased,” Sahu stated.
Sahu informed that the five had gone to the cashew nut orchard. There four of the boys tried to sodomise the deceased. However, he managed to break free. Fearing that the deceased would inform seniors about the dastardly act, the four strangled him to death with a loin cloth.
“All the four were later arrested and sent to correctional home as all they were all minors,” said Sahu.
“But I still remember the number of sleepless nights I had till I solved the case,” Sahu signed off.
PNN