Love Triangle! Girl, friend held for murder of youth; Odisha cops reveal motive

Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate police today cracked the ‘love triangle’ murder case of a youth in Laxmisagar area with the arrest of a couple, who were absconding from the crime scene.

The Laxmisagar police arrested Kanha Pradhan and Niharika from Salia Sahi slum in Bhubaneswar for the murder of Anjan Behera. A blood-stained weapon has been recovered from their possession. The manhunt is underway to nab four others, who were involved in the crime, informed Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh today.

“The couple had hatched a conspiracy to threaten Goutam, who approached Niharika for love, with a fatal weapon,” he said.

According to reports, Anjan was hacked to death at Chintamaniswar on March 16 night over a love triangle.

Also Read: Love triangle: Youth hacked to death in Bhubaneswar

Based on a complaint by Anjan’s mother at the Laxmisagar Police Station, an investigation started into the murder case.

During the investigation, police found that Anjan Behera was working with a catering company. Goutam, who was his colleague, was in love with Niharika, a Plus 3 second year student at Ekamra College in Bhubaneswar, since schooldays. However, it was one-side love as Niharika was the girlfriend of Kanha Pradhan and she never responded to Goutam, who had been approaching her on various social media platforms.

On March 15, Niharika had been to college for examination. While she was returning after appearing in the examination, Goutam allegedly stopped her way and approached her again for love that resulted in argument between the two. Niharika, who was in love with Kanha Pradhan alias Pinku, told him about the incident. Reacting to the incident, Pinku called Goutam for a meeting.

“On the fateful night, Goutam and his friends Anjan, Subash and Deepak Pradhan were returning from work in Jatani. Kanha and Niharika and four others stopped them on the road in Chintamaniswar. They indulged into argument with Goutam. When Anjan tried to stop it, Kanha Pradhan attacked him with a fatal weapon. With severe injuries in shoulder, Anjan fell on the ground and others managed to escape from the spot. The victim was rushed to hospital where he died due to excessive bleeding,” the DCP said in a presser.

A special team was formed to trace all accused persons in the murder case.

The investigation revealed that Kanha Pradhan was earlier arrested in two burglary cases.