3 held for RTI activist’s murder

The Hindu: Bhubaneswar: Tuesday, 10 February 2015.

The Odisha government on Monday said three persons have so far been arrested for the murder of RTI activist Krupasindhu Sahu.

Three accused have been arrested and efforts are on to nab another person who is at large, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Bikram Keshari Arukh said in a statement.

Investigation into the case has been handed over to the Crime Branch of Police, he said in the Assembly.

The Minister’s statement came after Speaker Niranjan Pujari had on Saturday directed the State government to make a statement on Sahu’s killing on January 26 in the Niali area of Cuttack district.

Pratap Kumar Jena, Sushila Pani and Manju Sahu were arrested on January 31, while another accused Kartik Pani was on the run, Arukh said.

He said Kartik had earlier been convicted and imprisoned in another murder case and was allegedly involved in five other serious cases.

The Assembly had witnessed pandemonium on Saturday with Opposition Congress demanding a statement from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Sahu’s killing.

Sahu, a farmer, had sought information pertaining to fund distributions in the block towards line sowing of paddy, fertilizer and seed in the Niali area. He was killed and his body buried, he said.