Bhubaneswar/Baripada: A fake kidnapping plot meant to extort money from a businessman's uncle turned into a shocking tale of betrayal and murder in Odisha's Baripada. What started as a desperate plan to make quick money ended in tragedy for Chandan Kumar Swain, who was allegedly brutally murdered by his so-called friends.
Victim Chandan Swain, a resident of Hindulia village in Kendrapara district of Odisha, was working as a supervisor in his uncle’s garment factory in Bengaluru for a salary of Rs 40,000. Frustrated with the 'less-paying' job, Chandan planned to quit and extort Rs 50 lakh from his uncle by staging his kidnapping. He discussed this with his friend and co-worker, Asish Singh, and roped him in to execute the plan.
The duo travelled to Baripada and involved another accomplice, Karama Singh. The idea was simple to stage a kidnapping, demand Rs 50 lakh ransom and split the money. Chandan decided to keep the bulk of it, while Asish was promised Rs 2 lakh.
On December 24, the three visited several spots, bought liquor, and decided to spend the night on the banks of the Budhabalanga River. Meanwhile, Asish expressed his frustration over his share of the ransom, and in a fit of rage, he slit his throat of Chandan with a knife. The reason, he wanted to take the full ransom.
With help from Karama, Asish partially burned the body, buried it in the sand, and disposed of the murder weapon in the river. After the murder, Asish used Chandan’s phone to call Chandan’s cousin, pretending to be a kidnapper and kept on demanding Rs 50 lakh ransom. The family, unaware of the crime, reported the case to police in Bhubaneswar.
The gruesome incident came to light on December 26 when locals found Chandan’s half-buried body along the riverbank. The police identified the victim using personal items found at the scene, including a receipt with a phone number. Tracking the phone’s call data, they arrested Asish and Karama, who confessed to the crime.
Both the accused are in police custody, and the case is under investigation. The Police also recovered key evidence, including the phone used for the ransom call.
Chandan’s family was devastated to learn about the plot and subsequent betrayal that led to his tragic death. His uncle, who had received the ransom calls, identified the body. Speaking to the police, he expressed shock and grief at how greed had driven his nephew and his so-called friends to such an extreme.
