BJD leader held for boy's murder following fight over chowmein

The police on Wednesday arrested a man for allegedly killing a teenage boy following an altercation over the delayed serving of chow mein at a stall in Odisha's Jajpur district.

The accused, a local leader of the opposition BJD, has been remanded to judicial custody.

According to the police, 14-year-old Santanu Das succumbed to his injuries on Sunday after being brutally assaulted on the night of February 9 near Gobindpur village under Jajpur block.

Santanu’s father Sukadev, a resident of Gobindpur village, alleged in the police complaint that he had gone to the stall of Anil Kumar Mallik to have chow mein, but it was not served to him even after 30 minutes.

When Sukhdev asked the reason for the delay, he was allegedly beaten up by Mallik.

Santanu then reached the spot and asked the stall owner why he assaulted his father.

Local BJD leader Kamal Mallik, who lives nearby, along with others then allegedly thrashed the boy with iron rods injuring him critically.

Local people took both the injured father and son to the Jajpur district headquarters hospital. Later, Santanu was shifted to a private hospital in Cuttack after his condition deteriorated, and he died there on Sunday night, police said.

Kamal Mallik was arrested from a place in Jajpur where he was hiding, while other accused are still at large.

(With PTI Inputs)