CUTTACK: After a marathon 72-hour interrogation, the Commissionerate Police on Thursday arrested 38-year old accused Narayan Sahu in connection with the murder of three homeless persons in the Millennium City.
Sahu has reportedly confessed to his involvement in the killing of two homeless persons near OMP Square but declined his role in the murder at Ranihat Canal road.Briefing mediapersons, Cuttack DCP Akhilesvar Singh said during interrogation, Sahu confessed to have killed his two friends with whom he used to work as a rag picker. He had been sleeping with the victims on footpath for the last two-three months.
Singh said the accused had constructed a shanty on the side of Golebazar road stretching from OMP Square to Cuttack Railway Station. However, the shanty was dismantled by the victims who even conspired to oust Sahu from the locality, he said.
This irked Sahu who attacked the victims with an axe while they were sleeping on the footpath near OMP Square on July 23 night. While one of the victims, a 35-year-old youth, died on the spot, the other, an elderly man, somehow managed to reach SCB Medical College and Hospital with the help of a biker but later succumbed.
The accused helped police in reconstructing the crime scene near OMP Square. Police have seized the axe used in the crime and two towels hidden by Sahu near the spot, the DCP said. “Sahu is yet to admit his involvement in the murder at Ranihat Canal road. He will be brought on remand for more interrogation in connection with the murder and if necessary, his DNA and polygraph tests will be conducted,” he said.
Basing on CCTV footage, the accused, a native of Sunamuhin within Odagan police station in Nayagarh district, was nabbed from near Belgintha in Ganjam on July 29.
Notably, the first victim was found on July 23 morning by the side of Taladanda Canal in Ranihat. The other two murders were reported the next day - one from OMP square and the other from Ranihat Medical road.