Bhimatangi murder: Accused’s mother opens up on Priyanka-Jagannath relationship

Bhubaneswar: In a significant development in the sensational Bhimatangi murder case, mother of accused Jagannath Pradhan today revealed that her son and deceased Priyanka Priyadarshini Sahoo were in a relationship before her marriage.

“My son and Priyanka had an affair before her marriage. However, he had promised me not to contact her after the marriage. Following the birth of her child, she telephoned my son and initiated conversation,” said Jagannath’s mother.

“On the fateful day, my son informed me in the morning that he was going to the local market. I had no clue about his intentions, otherwise I would have stopped him,” she said.

Jagannath allegedly murdered Priyanka by slitting her throat and later tried to end his life by cutting his wrist at her house in Bhimatangi area here on July 5, in the absence of her husband. The accused was rescued by police and admitted to the Capital Hospital here for treatment.

Rakesh Sahoo, husband of the deceased, who works with Eureka Forbes was not at home when the incident took place.

The couple got married in 2014 and has a three-year-old son. The duo was staying in a rented house in Bhimatangi Housing Board Colony in the city.

Rakesh got a WhatsApp video call from an unknown number at 12.25 pm on the day, purportedly from Jagannath. A terrified Rakesh called up his landlord to check the veracity of the call. The landlord and his son broke open the door to find Priyanka and Jagannath lying in a pool of blood in two separate rooms.

Police found a handwritten note beside the body in which it was written “I will kill Priyanka and her son”.

Police said that the accused had hatched a plan to kill the woman and her kid. While he killed the woman and attempted to end his life, the kid luckily survived as he was playing at the landlord’s house.

The accused has confessed to his crime. Two knives have also been recovered from the scene.