Jagatsinghpur: The Jagatsinghpur Police has claimed to have cracked the murder case of a missing youth, whose decomposed body was recovered from a pond near Katara village under Tirtol Police limits the district on October 24. The deceased Rashmi Ranjan Swain alias Dipa of Jajanga village was missing since October 22.
Police have arrested two accused Jagannath Pradhan alias Jaga of Mulu village under Balikuda Police limits and his friend Rakesh Muduli who were hired as contract killers to eliminate Rashmi Ranjan.
Police sources said that Rashmi Ranjan was harassing a married woman of his village and also attempted to molest her by entering her house. When the woman intimated the matter to her husband, who works in Mumbai, he warned Swain to stay away from his wife.
However, Swain did not pay attention to his warning and continued to harass the woman. Later, the woman's husband cracked a deal with two goons- Jaga and Rakesh for Rs 3 lakh to eliminate Swain.
Narrating the modus operandi of the crime, Jagatsinghpur SP Prakash R said that on the night of October 22, Jaga along with his friend, Rakesh murdered Rashmi Ranjan with a sharp weapon after making him drink alcohol and disposed his body in a pond.
"After detailed investigation, we found that the Rashmi Ranjan was forcing a married woman for having illicit relationship with him and harassing her. When the woman complained about it to her husband, he hired two goons (Jaga & Rakesh) for Rs 3 lakh to eliminate Rashmi Ranjan. The main accused also paid them Rs 50,000 in advance," informed the SP.
"Police have recovered the murder weapon, the advance money from possession of the contract killers and also seized Rashmi Ranjan's motorcycle, which dumped into the pond after the murder," added the SP.
Meanwhile, a team of police officials have left for Mumbai to nab the mastermind behind the murder.