Cuttack: Four persons were arrested on Sunday night and forwarded to court on Monday morning in connection with the murder of a youth during a cricket match at Mahisananda village under Choudar Police limits in Odisha’s Cuttack district.
The accused persons were Raja, Smuti aka Muna, Sanjay aka Muguni and Badal — all are adults and hail from Berhampur village in Cuttack district.
Addressing the media here on Monday, Cuttack DCP Pinak Mishra said, “Taking the matter seriously, we conducted raids throughout the night to nab those involved with the crime. We have arrested four persons in this connection and forwarded them to court on Monday.” An investigation into the crime is on, he added.
It is worth mentioning here that a friendly cricket match here turned ugly when a spectator was allegedly killed over the umpire’s wrong ‘Out’ decision on Sunday. The incident occurred during a cricket match between Berhampur and Shankarpur village teams at Mahisananda under Choudwar police limits in Odisha’s Cuttack district.
The deceased was identified as Lucky Rout (22) of Mahusananda village.
According to reports, trouble started when the opening batter of the Berhampur team was given out by the umpire. Protesting against the umpire Preeti Ranjan Samal’s decision, Berhampur team members and their supporters created a commotion on the field. Soon, this turned into a violent scuffle between the two teams and spectators.
During the brawl, the players and supporters of Berhampur attacked a local youth Lucky Rout (22), who had gone to defend the umpire, first with a bat and then stabbed him.
According to Preeti Ranjan, the umpire of the match, some players from the batting team attacked Rout with a bat. Subsequently, one Smutiranjan (Muna) Raut of Dalijoda Berhampur village stabbed Rout. Rout was rushed to the SCB Medical College and Hospital in critical condition where he breathed his last during treatment.
Soon after the incident, local villagers nabbed one person and handed him over to the police. He has been detained for interrogation. A large police party has been deployed to maintain the law and order situation.
On being informed, Chowdar police reached the hospital and started an investigation into the incident.