Jharaphula murder: Police reveal reason behind the crime

Jajpur: In a major development in the case of Ramadevi Women’s University student Jharaphula Nayak’s murder, police today revealed the motive behind the crime.

Jajpur SP Rahul PR said the girl was murdered by her male friend Rakesh Swain as she was insisting him to repay over Rs 30,000, which was borrowed by him from the deceased.

“Accused Rakesh Swain had borrowed over Rs 30,000 from Jharaphula for buying a motorcycle. Few weeks before the murder, the girl asked him to return the money. Later on January 24, she went to Bhubaneswar for attending a birthday party. During her visit to the capital city, she insisted Rakesh for repayment of the amount and threatened him to disclose the matter before his family members,” the SP said.

“On January 26, Rakesh took Jharaphula to a hotel in the city on the pretext of repaying the money. He forced her to consume liquor inside the room. As she fell unconscious after liquor consumption, he smothered her to death,” the police official said.

While Rakesh was arrested for murdering the girl, his two associates Shakti Sekhar Swain and Amaresh Rout were apprehended on the charges of conspiring with the prime accused and destroying evidence, the cop said.

On January 26, Rakesh and Jharaphula had reached OYO Shiv Sai Guest House at Dharma Vihar in Bhubaneswar and checked into the hotel. They had stayed at room no. 201.

On January 27 morning, Rakesh and Shakti Sekhar carried the girl’s body on a scooter from Bhubaneswar and dumped it on roadside at Mulapala under Kuakhia police limits in Jajpur district.