Triple murder in Porbandar: Forest guard arrested after he tests negative for coronavirus

“He tested negative for Covid-19 and therefore, we formally arrested him on Thursday afternoon. During primary interrogation, he has confessed to have murdered the fellow forest guard, her husband and the casual labourer of the forest department,” Smit Gohil, deputy superintendent of police (DySP) of Porbandar rural division told The Indian Express.

Gohil is the investigating officer of the case.

Gohil said that Odedra, a native of Porbandar district, had joined the Gujarat forest services as a guard in 2007 and that he had come in contact with Hetal around two years ago when they were working together in the Barda Sanctuary. It was during this time that Odedra, who is a married man, developed soft feelings for Hetal, police said. However, after his wife Manju came to know about this, relationship between Manju and Odedra came under strain, police said.

Investigators said that Manju and Hetal also used to have verbal exchanges over the issue and during once such argument around 20 days ago, Hetal had allegedly abused and issued threats to Manju. After Manju complained about this to her husband, Odedra made a plan to eliminate Hetal, who was six months pregnant, and her husband Kirti, a teacher at a government primary school in Ratdi village of Porbandar.