Jharkhand Couple Found Dead In Odisha Forest, Eight Arrested

Odisha police arrested eight individuals in connection with the murder of a Jharkhand couple in Balangir.

Balangir:In a tragic incident, Balangir police in Odisha have arrested eight individuals in connection with the murder of a couple from Jharkhand, allegedly over a financial dispute. The bodies of Mohammad Javed and Palak Mishra, residents of Jharkhand’s Bokaro, were found in a forest under Puintla police station’s limits on October 24, five days after they were reported missing, police said on Wednesday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that the couple, who had been residing in Balangir for a few months, was killed over a money transfer dispute, they said.

According to police sources, Mohammad Javed, who had a criminal background with multiple cases registered against him in Bihar and Jharkhand, owed Rs seven lakh to a Jharkhand-based builder and 'criminal', Ashutosh Gautam. Javed and Palak had recently moved to Balangir’s Mahalakshmi town, where they rented a house. They were residing in Balangir without returning Gautam’s money.

Sources said that Ashutosh Gautam, along with six associates from Jharkhand, located Javed in Balangir. The group, in coordination with a local contact, went to Javed’s rented residence, abducted him and Palak, and took them to a forested area. There, Javed and Palak were allegedly tied up, beaten, tortured, and killed.

The police initiated an investigation into the matter. The officials have investigated the footage from nearby CCTV cameras installed nearby and arrested eight individuals in connection with the matter- seven from Jharkhand including Gautam and one local resident.

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