Chhatrapur councillor murder: 5 more accused arrested

Berhampur: Five more accused involved in the brutal murder of Chhatrapur Councilor Laxmidutta Pradhan were arrested by Odisha Police, taking the total arrests to 13 in the case on Tuesday.

Addressing a press conference, SP Ganjam Asish Singh informed that all the five accused, who have been arrested today, were part of the group that had brutally hacked to death Laxmiduttta outside his house on September 16.

The accused have been identified as Prashant Behera, Sanjay Gaud, Chiku alias Ayushman Mohapatra, Santosh Sethi and Banoj Nayak.

Santosh Nayak along with four others were present on the spot and were seen attacking Laxmidutta based on the CCTV footage that was recovered from the spot.

Earlier, police on September 22 had arrested eight miscreants involved in the murder of Laxmidutta, councilor from ward no.6. Police then had recovered sword and other weapons used in the crime.

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“During interrogation of all the accused, we have found evidence regarding involvement of a few persons including one Krushna Chandra Nayak and another Duryodhan Reddy in the planning and execution of the murder,” said Singh.

Singh further informed that the group had earlier planned to eliminate Laxmidutta two to three times in the past one year. However, they had not succeeded in their attempts.

“We will bring all the five accused on a five day remand to elicit more information regarding the involvement of other accused in planning, financing and execution of the crime,” Singh added.