Bhubaneswar: Close on the heels of arresting the prime accused in the sensational 1999 Anjana Mishra Gang Rape case, the Commissionerate Police on Sunday claimed to have achieved another breakthrough by arresting one of the accused in the 2008 musician Sumant Mohanty murder case at Mancheswar area in Bhubaneswar.
Addressing a press conference today, Twin City Police Commissioner Saumendra Priyadarshi informed the media about the arrest of the fifth accused, Bikram Aditya Jena, who had been absconding after the incident, in the case. The accused was arrested from the Mancheswar police limits, he added.
As per police reports, Jena was one of the co-accused involved in the brutal murder of the musician Sumant Mohanty.
Senior officials said Mohanty was killed over 'personal enmity' in 2008. The fatal enmity is traced to the college days, when on the complaint of the victim, the main accused was rusticated from the Utkal Sangeet Mahavidyalay, elaborated Priyadarshi.
He added that after killing Mohanty brutally, his body was stuffed inside the victim's car and the vehicle was dumped in a canal near Palasuni.
"In our drive to arrest the absconding accused persons in old murder cases, a special team has been formed. The team tracks the absconders profesionally. In a sequel to the special drive launched, the team today managed to nab the absconding accused from the Mancheswar area today," said Priyadarshi.
According to Priyadarshi, the fifth accused Jena had escaped to Pune after the crime. The accused was under constant surveillance. He had been working as a gym trainer there, though had contacts with his family in Odisha.
Based on credible inputs, the Special squad of Bhubaneswar managed to nab the fifth accused from Bhubaneswar.
"Today's arrest will certainly boost the morale of officers, when the special drive is underway to nab the miscreants involved in old cases that have been pending at several police stations for years," Priyadarshi added.
Earlier police had arrested four persons in this murder case. The prime accused in the case was then identified as Sushil Jena, and other co-accused arrested then were Manas Ranjan Vedanta, Sushil Samantray and Subhakant Jena.