Five persons allegedly involved in the murder of RTI activist Abhimanyu Panda at Baliguda in Odisha’s Kandhamal district on December 10 have been arrested by the police.
Informing newsmen on Sunday, Kandhamal Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh said Panda was killed due to a dispute over a shop at Baliguda Jagannath temple. The arrested persons included prime accused Biswajit Patra and two hired contract killers from Ganjam district.
Two others, S. Balaji Achari and Rasa Bihari Das, who had acted as mediators between the prime accused and the killers, were also arrested.
Revolver, bullets seized
Police investigation has revealed that one more person was also involved in the murder, who is absconding. A hunt is on to nab him.
One country made revolver, three live bullets, six mobile phones and a bike were seized from possession of accused.
According to the SP, the motive for the murder apparently was an ongoing dispute over a rented shop at Baliguda Jagannath temple. Prime accused Patra was running the shop.
The deceased was a key member of the temple’s managing committee that wanted to evict Patra which irked him.
According to the police, Patra then decided to eliminate the activist. He allegedly took help of his associates Achari and Das to hire the two contract killers from Aska area of Ganjam district.
They were paid ₹1 lakh for the murder, said the SP.
Killed in front of house
On December 10, Panda was shot dead by two bike-borne persons in front of his house at Baliguda. Kandhamal police had formed five teams to track down the culprits.
Basing on eyewitness account of the shooters, the police had managed to nab the two hired killers, who later confessed to the crime and named the other accused.
