Five more arrested in Aska Congress candidate murder

Five more arrested in the Aska Congress candidate murder case. Manoj Jena was killed on May 22, a day before the counting of votes. Police earlier arrested two persons in this case.

Berhampur (Odisha):Five more persons were arrested for their alleged involvement in the murder of Congress candidate of Aska Assembly constituency in Ganjam district, police said on Thursday.

Five more arrested in Congress candidate murder case

With this, as many as seven people have so far been arrested for their alleged involvement in the killing of Manoj Jena (46), Congress candidate from Aska Assembly constituency on May 22, a day before the counting of votes.

"Anand Swain (24), Shankar Rout (18), Sibaram Behera (22), Kartika Nahak (26) were arrested from Laxmipur in Koraput district, while Sultan alias Sunil Kumar Nayak (34) was arrested from Balugaon railway station on Wednesday," superintendent of police, Berhampur, Pinak Mishra said.

Three motorcycles, two crude pistols, three rounds of live ammunition, two knives, 10 mobile phones and around Rs 3,500 cash have also been seized from the accused.

Reportedly, earlier, police had arrested two persons - Ganesh Nayak and Hrushikesh Patra, for their alleged role in the murder, police said.

The main conspirator in the murder case is, however, still at large.

"We have identified the main accused as Bhagaban Sahu, a liquor trader. A special police team has been formed to arrest him," the SP said.

"According to the preliminary investigation, personal enmity and rivalry in the liquor business appeared to have led to the crime," he said.