Bhadrak: Four held for murder of ex-Sarpanch

Bhadrak: Police arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the murder of former sarpanch of Bandhagaon panchayat in Bhadrak district, an officer said on Friday.Bhadrak rural police on Thursday arrested the four persons after a week-long investigation, he said.The police said the four accused had hatched a plan and killed Chittaranjan Rout, the ex-sarpanch, on November 12 night.

Police identified the alleged accused as Bidyut Sahoo, Saroja Sahoo, Badal Samal and Prasant Rout.

All belong to the Bandhagaon village under Bhadrak rural police station limits.

During the investigation, the police found that Bidyut had contacted Samal to kill the former sarpanch two months back. The deal was finalised at Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 40,000 was paid in advance to Samal.

Samal, with his two friends, hatched the plan and executed it accordingly. They invited Chittaranjan Rout to a party.

They consumed liquor on November 12 night. When Chittaranjan was returning home in an intoxicated condition, the four persons killed him with lethal weapons, said Inspector-in-charge of Bhadrak rural police station Amitab Das.The motive behind the murder is suspected to be business rivalry, he said.

The police have seized the knife used in the murder and the mobile phone of the deceased from the accused, Das said.