Bhubaneswar: Days after a woman was killed and buried near a playground in Reamal in Odisha’s Deogarh district, police have cracked the case and arrested four persons in this connection.
The accused were identified as Pramod Pradhan (24), the deceased woman’s lover and Keshav Pradhan (50) of Balasingha village in Sambalpur district along with their relatives Gurucharan Pradhan (55) and son Pradip Pradhan (30) of Madhyapur village under Reamal police limits in Deogarh district.
The woman, Mruta Mina of Garakhol village under Kisinda police limits in Sambalpur, was reportedly in an extra-marital relationship with the prime accused Pramod, and was killed by him on suspicion of infidelity.
According to police, Mina had married one Dasarathi Kisan of Balam village two years back and the couple had a child. Despite this, Mina was having an extra-marital affair with Pramod and left her husband and child to live with him. Even after living with Pramod, Mina was allegedly talking to other men over phone calls leading to suspicion by her partner.
She reportedly did not change her ways even after Pramod repeatedly asked her to abstain from talking to other men. So, he took her to his relative Gurucharan’s place in Reamal. However, when he returned from work on February 22, he found her again talking to other men over phone calls. They argued over the issue and after Mina slept Pramod suffocated her to death with a shawl. Then, Gurucharan and Pradip dug up a spot near the playground and buried her.
A shepherd grazing goats spotted a stray some dogs eating up parts of the corpse on March 1 and informed other villagers and the Sarpanch. On being informed, police reached the spot but could not exhume the body as it was dark. The following day, the body was identified and the girl’s family alleged murder. Acting on the complaint, the police registered a case and initiated an investigation.
