Bachan Sudha murder case: Massive manhunt on to nab absconding guard

Reported by Santosh Jagdev/Edited by Sandeep Sahu

Bhubaneswar, Sept-12:

A day after the gruesome murder of Bachan Sudha Pattanayak (53), a city-based businessman’s wife, the Commissionerate Police has started a manhunt to nab the security guard who is absconding since the incident. All eyes are now on the security guard Dipti Ranjan Patnaik, suspected to be the prime accused in the case.

Police conducted a raid on Patnaik’s home at Nuabazaar under Niali police station limits in Cuttack district on Wednesday night. The prime suspect, who was staying at Arati apartment of Prachi Vihar in Palasuni area in the city, had joined the Rajendra Security Service one and a half months ago, sources said.

Diptiranjan Patnaik came for the second shift about half an hour after the security guard on the morning shift Kanhu Charan Nayak left on Wednesday, police said.

Police recovered a blood stained shirt said to belong to Patnaik, a vanity bag, a mobile phone and a knife from a drain behind the residence. Besides, they also found a liquor bottle and a plastic glass from the place of occurrence, which led to suspicion that he was a drunkard. Earlier, police had also seized a visiting card with blood marks and a new saree from the security guard’s chamber at the entrance gate.

SECURITY GUARD PRIME SUSPECT

What also pointed the needle of suspicion on the security guard was the fact that the family pet dog was brought from the upper floor to the ground on the fateful day. Police suspect that the guard might have entered the room with an intention to rob the house and stabbed Bachan Sudha when she resisted.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Nitinjeet Singh said the motive for the murder would become clear only after the security guard is arrested and interrogated. “But as of now, the motive appears to be burglary,” he said.

Singh said four persons, including the head of Rajendra Security Services Purna Chandra Muduli who sent the security guard for duty in Bachan Sudha’s residence, had been detained for interrogation.

Police seized relevant documents from the security agency to find out more about the antecedents of Patnaik. The scientific team and the intelligence wing have started investigating into the matter.

SECURITY AGENCY UNDER SCANNER

Police sources said Muduli was operating the security agency in the city without a license. He had employed seven persons for his agency on a salary of Rs. 4000 each.

Meanwhile, the autopsy report has confirmed that Bachan Sudha was stabbed with a knife six times – once on the forehead, thrice on the neck and twice on the shoulders. Her death in her dining room was due to profuse bleeding, said the report.

Employees of Madhukan Agro Automobiles Pvt Ltd on Thursday staged a protest in front of Mancheswar police station demanding immediate arrest of the culprit. Ward no-5 corporator Pratap Rout blamed the police for not taking swift action in time to check the rising crime in the city. “If the police fail to arrest the culprit, we will take to the streets,” he said.

BACHAN SUDHA CREMATED

Bachansudha’s body was cremated at Satyanagar crematorium here today. Tthe daughter of the deceased Sonali Rashmi Pattnaik, a banking employee in Hong Kong, reached here in the morning today after hearing about the death of her mother.

53-year old Bachan Sudha, wife of Manu Charan Pattnaik, the owner of Madhukan Agro Automobiles Pvt Ltd,was killed by some unidentified persons at her Sabarsahi residence in Rasulgarh area under Mancheswar police limits here on Wednesday.

The deceased was running a finance management firm and was also the director of an agro and automobile firm and a housing and infrastructure company.