A retired Odisha Information Service cadre officer, who had served as the public relation officer to the Odisha Governor and the Chief Minister, was on Monday arrested in connection with the murder of a cameraman.
The police said the former OIS officer, Niranjan Sethi, was allegedly present on the spot when the cameraman, identified as Manas Kumar Swain, was beaten to death.
The body of the victim was allegedly disposed of under the guidance of Mr. Sethi, Jatin Kumar Panda, Additional Superintendent of Police, Bhadrak, said.
Mr. Sethi retired as Director (technical) of State Information and Public Relation Department. He had earlier served as PRO to former Chief Minister Giridhar Gamango. He was also the PRO in the Governor’s office when Satya Narayan Reddy was the Governor of Odisha.
Sarmistha Rout, a woman journalist, who is said to be the main accused in the murder case, has been absconding. Ms. Rout is editor of the Sampurna Odia fortnightly newspaper.
On the day of his retirement, Mr. Sethi had empanelled the fortnightly, which meant that the newspaper would get regular advertisement from the State government.
Family members of the deceased cameraperson lodged a complaint that he had been missing since going to Bhadrak from Bhubaneswar to shoot a wedding on February 6.
“The murder took place over a mobile chip, which was in possession of Swain. The woman journalist with whom Swain was working as an assistant wanted to get the chip back. Neither we have found the chip, nor do we know what it contains. The victim was kidnapped while he was returning to Bhubaneswar,” Mr. Panda said.
“The deceased was taken to Dayal Oldage Home in Bhubaneswar which was being run by the journalist. He was brutally assaulted by the henchmen of Rout. Sethi was present there. After he died, the body was taken to Nayagarh and buried in an isolated paddy field on February 8,” the officer added.
The body was recovered on March 12. The Bhadrak police had earlier arrested three persons for their suspected role in the kidnapping of Swain.
“Special teams have been formed to arrest the woman journalist who has been absconding along with another woman. We will be in position to unravel as to why the conspiracy to eliminate the cameraperson was hatched, following the arrest of the woman. We hope to arrest them shortly,” Mr. Panda said.
