In a chilling case of betrayal and financial dispute, Bhanjpur Police on Monday arrested three land brokers for the abduction and murder of Salku Marandi, a 34-year-old real estate businessman from Damodarpur, Baripada, in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district.
The accused have been identified as:
Amarnath Panda (36) from Baharagora, East Singhbhum district, Jharkhand
Darshan Bhunia (53) from Damodarpur, Baripada
Biren Soren (55) from Chandua
According to Additional SP Deepak Gochhayat, Salku went missing on January 28, and his decomposed body was recovered on Sunday from Jamsoli forest, under Betnoti police jurisdiction.
The investigation began after Salku’s wife filed a missing person’s complaint. Police tracked the call records and movements of the suspects, leading to the arrest of Darshan and Biren. During interrogation, Darshan confessed to orchestrating the murder due to a Rs36 lakh debt he owed to Salku.
The plot thickened when Darshan revealed that he had promised Amarnath the same Rs36 lakh to carry out the murder-for-hire. On January 28, Amarnath drove from Jharkhand to Baripada. The following morning, Darshan lured Salku to a fuel station near Telco Chowk at Murgabadi, under the pretext of returning the money.
Once Salku arrived on his scooter, the trio picked him up in a car. While traveling, one of the men in the back seat strangled Salku to death. They then disposed of his body in the Jamsoli forest, reportedly with the help of additional accomplices.
Police later conducted a crime scene recreation with the accused. All three have been produced in court and remanded to judicial custody. Seven to eight more suspects involved in the murder are currently absconding, and police have launched a manhunt to apprehend them.
ASP Gochhayat confirmed that the case is registered as homicide and that further investigation is underway.
