Vikash Sharma

By Vikash Sharma and Suryakant Jena

Crime against women, encounters, obscene videos that went viral on social media - 2017 saw a spurt in crimes that grabbed headlines. There were also incidents that revived the hope for justice. Here's a quick look on the 10 top crimes that were reported in different parts of Odisha by the end of December this year.

Kunduli Gang Rape

The rape of a minor girl allegedly by four men in ‘uniform’ in Kunduli in Koraput on October 10 still remains a mystery. However, the incident remained in news throughout 2017 and had even sparked off a political controversy in the State. Read More...

 

      Councillor Murder

Series of sensational murders also left people in Odisha shell-shocked. The brutal murder of Chhatrapur councillor Laxmidutta Pradhan was also no short of a thriller owing to the alleged ‘political link’ in the killing.

Pradhan was hacked to death by a group of people outside his residence on September 16. Read More...

Engineering student held for killing friend’s mother

In one of the bizarre incidents this year, an engineering student was held for allegedly strangulating his friend’s mother in Jeypore on October 17.

The accused Aditya Mohanty had strangulated his friend's mother  Birajini Khandual with a motive to loot money to fulfill his materialistic dreams. Read More...

High-profile Sex racket involving Thai women busted in Bhubaneswar

The changing lifestyle of people in Smart City was exposed again after Commissionerate police busted a sex racket that was running from a Spa parlour at Kharvel Nagar and rescued three women from Thailand on November 17.

It was one of the coveted operations by the special squad as the cops posing as customers had raided the Spa and busted the racket. Read More...

Serial killer nabbed

It was on August 1 that Puri police managed to nab serial killer, Buddhadeba Behera in connection with the sensational Delang rape and murder.

Police said Behera was involved in the rape and murder of at least five girls in Andhra Pradesh and Nuagoan on Odisha-Jharkhand border. After his arrest, he even attempted suicide in the prison. Read More...

DAV business school girl commits suicide in hostel

Concerns regarding safety of girls in educational institutions came to fore after an undergraduate girl student of the DAV School of Business Management (DSBM) here allegedly committed suicide in the college hostel on November 28.

The deceased identified as Tanaya Banerjee had allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from the ceiling fan of her hostel room. What was shocking was that the girl had committed suicide due to repeated harassment by her inmates over theft of some cosmetics, the family members had alleged. Read More...

Human Trafficking

As many as 42,713 girls have been trafficked from Sundergarh district of Odisha in a decade, revealed a survey conducted by a non-government organisation in December, 2017.

As per the findings, women from Kutra, Lepripada, Balisankara and Sabdega blocks are the most vulnerable areas to such trafficking. Read More...

Acid attack survivor gets justice after 8 years

On November 26, 2017 Odisha Police managed to nab two persons including prime accused Santosh Bedanta involved in the 2009 acid attack in Pramodini Roul.

The arrests came as a big relief for Roul, who was moving from pillar to post, to seek justice. Santosh, an Indian Army Jawan posted at Kupwara in Jammu and Kashmir, was arrested by a special team of Jagatsinghpur police from Kolkata. Read More...

Itishree Murder Case

Who killed Itishree Pradhan will now be a mystery as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in November closed the case file. It sparked off a major political storm in Odisha with BJP’s Bijay Mohapatra terming it as unfortunate as CBI submitted a closure notice in the Supreme Court before reaching a conclusion.

BJD on the other hand said the saffron party used the central investigating agency to save former Koraput MP Jayaram Pangi, who joined BJP recently. Read More...

Series of Obscene and viral videos

2017 saw a spurt in incidents of viral obscene videos that were reported from different parts of Odisha. It was the molestation of a college girl by a mob in Bargarh that took people of State by shock.

Later, police swung into action and arrested over six persons in connection of incident following public outrage over the incident. Read More...

                     Worst 5 Mishaps in 2017

 

Bomikhal flyover bridge collapse

One person was killed while around 12 others including few labourers and a minor girl were injured after a portion of flyover bridge collapsed near Bomikhal on September 11.

A massive search operation was subsequently launched as it was suspected that several labourers were trapped inside the debris. While the construction company officials and few engineers were arrested, public resentment continues as many believe the victims are yet to get justice.

lightning                                                 Lightning Deaths

Of late, Odisha has registered a steep hike in casualties due to lightning strikes with 400 people being killed in such natural calamities annually.

This prompted State government to form an ‘expert committee’ to ascertain the reason behind lightning incidents and subsequent rise in casualties.

Train Mishaps

Lives of several families in Odisha changed in the two train mishaps that were reported in 2017.

39 people were killed while more than 50 were injured after Hirakhand Express derailed near Kuneru in Andhra Pradesh on January 21.

Similarly, the Puri-Haridwar Kalinga Utkal Express had derailed on August 19 in Uttar Pradesh. At least 23 persons were killed in the mishap.

                                                   Sunki Landmine Blast

Eight personnel of Odisha State Armed Police (OSAP) were killed in a landmine blast in Sunki Ghat in Koraput in February. The explosion took place near Mungarbhumi on Sunki Ghat, barely one km from Andhra Pradesh border in the Maoist-affected Koraput district.

Pal Heights Fire

Five including four family members of Pal Heights hotel owner Satpal Singh were charred to death in a major fire mishap at Budheswari Colony on August 3.

The deceased were identified as Satpal’s younger son Gagan Pal Singh (40), daughter-in-law Bhavana Singh (38), granddaughter Sohabi Singh (15) and grandson Rubir Singh (8), and house maid Khusi Das (15).

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