Cuttack: Police on Wednesday arrested one more accused allegedly involved in the brutal murder of BJP leader Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingh Baral in Mahanga in the district, taking the total number of arrestees in the case to five.
Police have not yet disclosed the identity of the accused who has been arrested today.
On Tuesday, four persons including the prime accused were arrested by Cuttack police (Rural). The prime accused has been identified as Panchanan Sethi while others are Arabinda Khatua, Khitish Acharya and Lalita Mohan Baral, Cuttack SP (Rural) B Jugal Kishore had informed at a press meet.
The police had recovered a sword used in the crime while they had recreated the crime scene on the spot with the prime accused Panchanan Sethi.
Though the crime is alleged to be a fallout of political rivalry, the police are yet to confirm it.
On the other hand, Opposition BJP and Congress have trained their guns on ruling BJD as the family members of the deceased leader have accused Law Minister and Mahanga MLA Pratap Jena of orchestrating the crime. Jena was also named in the FIR lodged by the son of the slain leader.
The workers of both the parties had staged demonstration in Bhubaneswar and other parts of the State on Tuesday demanding ouster of the Minister from State Cabinet.
BJP National Vice President Baijayant Panda also demanded the arrested of all accused involved in the crime. He said "People named in the FIR as being involved in the murder be arrested and questioned, no matter that one of them is the sitting Law Minister of the State.”