Crime Patrol: 2 held for murder of Orissa journalist (Episode 453, 454 on 3rd, 4th Jan 2015)

Part 1


Part 2
The Inside Story

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Bhubaneswar, Orissa

TV journalist's murder case solved, two arrested

Two of the four accused in the murder of Tarun Acharya, a stringer with Kanak TV, have been arrested 12 days after the incident. P Shyam Sundar Prusty, owner of a cashew processing unit at Khallikote, and one of his accomplices were arrested, while the other two accused are still on the run. Acharya was murdered on May 27, while he was returning home from work, when assailants stopped his motorcycle and slit his throat. The police had initially suspected Acharya's brother-in-law to be behind the murder. However, the police found that Prusty was the mastermind.

Prusty was enraged by a report by Acharya in Oriya daily Sambad on child labourers employed in his factory, which he saw as an attempt to finish his business. He confided in three of his friends who then agreed to kill Acharya for Rs 50,000. They were given three new SIM cards to track Acharya’s movements. One of the killers called the journalist over the phone and spoke to him for 25 seconds before the murder. After the killing, the trio fled to Berhampur town.

During the investigation, the police found a connection between one of the numbers in the victim’s call records and Prusty. After interrogating him again, Prusty admitted to being the mastermind behind the murder. He revealed that he was distraught over the way the journalist had harassed him and thought that his factory would close down. The police are still on the lookout for the remaining accused.

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