Bhubaneswar: A 25-year-old criminal with 15 cases against him was shot twice in his leg and then bludgeoned to death with stones by a group of assailants near his home at Jayagopal Sahi in Dhenkanal district on Sunday night. The deceased was identified as Maheswar Behera.
Seven persons have been arrested for the murder, police said on Monday. Sources said a clash over illegal sand trade led to the brutal murder of Behera.
Behera’s wife, Pooja, said the accused allegedly kidnapped Maheswar over monetary issues about a month ago and broke his hand. After recovering, Behera was roaming the streets on Sunday evening under the influence of alcohol, hurling abuses. Around 11:30 pm, while he was sitting on a bench near his house, about 30 youths on bikes attacked him. They first shot him in the leg. When he tried to flee, the attackers dragged him for around 100 metres, shot him again, and then stoned him to death.
His family members rushed to the spot upon hearing the gunshots, forcing the attackers to flee. He was taken to the district headquarters hospital where doctors declared him dead. Police have recovered the body. A forensic team collected samples from the spot on Monday morning.
Based on a complaint filed by Pooja, police registered a case against 14 people and arrested 7. Two were arrested from nearby villages and five from Puri. Additional SP Suryamani Pradhan said the remaining accused will be caught soon.
Maheswar had 15 cases against him, including theft, snatching, brown sugar and liquor trade, and extortion. He had been in jail multiple times and was out on bail.
After the postmortem, his family blocked the main road with his body at Sasan Chowk, demanding arrest of the perpetrators and compensation. Traffic was disrupted for two hours until the police assured strict action and the district Red Cross unit pledged Rs 20,000 aid for the next of kin of the deceased, following which the protest was lifted around 5 pm.