PURI: A 43-year-old street food vendor was brutally murdered just hours before President Droupadi Murmu‘s scheduled visit to the holy city on Wednesday.
The victim, identified as Sudarshan Sahoo from Khandiabandha, was found dead under the Srisetu bridge. His body was discovered by an on-duty policeman deployed for the President’s security detail, who immediately alerted the Police Control Room.
According to Siba Sankar Sahoo, the victim’s son, two unidentified individuals had approached his father at their Market Square food stall on Tuesday night. “After a brief conversation, my father asked me to go home. One of them dropped me off, but my father never returned,” said the grieving son.
Town Police Station inspector in-charge (IIC) Sunil Pradhan, who led the investigation, confirmed that the victim was killed with stone and paver blocks. “We have seized eight paver blocks from the crime scene as evidence,” said Pradhan. The body was recovered around 9 a.m., less than an hour before the President’s convoy passed over the same bridge.
The timing of the murder has raised serious security concerns among locals. “The fact that such a brutal crime occurred during heightened security arrangements is alarming,” said Manoranjan Pradhan, a local resident.
The body has been sent for post-mortem examination, and police have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators. No arrests have been made so far.
The incident has cast a shadow over the security preparations for the President’s visit, with authorities facing questions about surveillance gaps in sensitive areas during VIP movements.