In a major breakthrough, Rourkela police have arrested five individuals, including a juvenile, in connection with the stabbing murder of 26-year-old tea vendor Avinash Yadav near the city’s railway station.
The accused have been identified as Mohit Bajar, Subham Paswan, Sidhu Tanti, and Rajveer Ram, along with one juvenile. Authorities seized five mobile phones, two four-wheelers, and a dragger from the suspects.
Speaking to the media, Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani praised the police team for rapidly identifying the perpetrators. “For the first four hours, we had no leads. Within the next eight hours, we identified the suspects, and all five were arrested within eight hours of that,” he said. He added that three of the accused carried out the stabbing, while the remaining two assisted their escape.
Police investigations involved careful analysis of CCTV footage, which helped establish the sequence of events and identify the attackers.
The SP attributed the murder to past enmity. “All the accused have previous criminal records. They knew each other from their time in jail. A trivial dispute six months ago and a confrontation a month back escalated, ultimately leading to this murder,” Wadhwani said.
Yadav, a resident of Gopabandhupali slum, ran a tea stall near Amar Bhawan parking lot. On the night of the attack, he was returning from a public toilet at around 9:20 pm when he was confronted by three assailants. He sustained three to four deep stab wounds and died on the spot, shocking the local community.
Police are continuing the investigation to determine if there were any additional accomplices and are reviewing the suspects’ criminal histories.
