‘Personal rivalry behind Mahanga murders’

CUTTACK: THE special squad of Cuttack Rural Police on Wednesday arrested one more accused in the murder of BJP leader Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingh Baral. He has been identified as Kailash Khatua of Jankothi. With this, the total number of arrests in the double murder case has increased to five. On Tuesday, four persons including the 28-year-old prime accused Panchanan Sethi were arrested. All the accused were produced before Judicial Magistrate which remanded them in judicial custody.  

Even as the murder was alleged to be the fallout of political rivalry, the prime accused Panchanana told mediapersons outside the court that he committed the crime over personal rivalry while ruling out any political link. When asked about the motive, he said that Kulamani’s two sons Kunia and Bengua had barged into his house and assaulted him after stripping off his clothes. “I killed Kulamani in revenge,” he said.

Sources said, two groups of Nrutanga and Jankothi villagers who were at loggerheads over support to two separate political parties for the last several years, had confronted each other on December 27. 

Though two separate FIRs were filed in Mahanga police station in this connection on December 28, police had only registered two cases but did not initiate investigation. Due to inaction of police, both the groups had planned to attack each other. After five days, the gruesome double murder occurred on January 2 night when Kulamani was returning home along with his neighbouring associate Dibyasingh Baral(80) in a motorcycle.