Kendrapara: Marshaghai police claimed on Monday to have cracked the kidnap and murder mystery of notorious criminal Bibhu Prasad Sahoo and arrested six persons in this connection in Kendrapara.

The gangster Bibhu was kidnapped on May 31 when he was sitting near an under-construction water tank in Bhagabanpur village. Twelve more persons involved in the crime are still absconding.

Police seized two cars, three bikes, six mobile phones and two wooden spade handles used in the crime, Kendrapara Superintendent of Police (SP) Sandeep Sampat Madkar told mediapersons.

The cause behind the kidnapping and murder was past enmity and intergang rivalry between two warring gang members over the collection of extortion money from various sources.

The six accused had congregated at the Gojabayani temple in Bagadia and hatched a criminal conspiracy to kidnap and eliminate Bibhu forever. They kidnapped Bibhu at gunpoint on May 31 from his village at Bhagabanpur under Marshaghai police limits and later killed him by severely beating him near an old brick kiln on the outskirts of Mangalpur village under Mahakalapada police limits.

The accused then disposed of the body of Bibhu on June 1 by setting it on fire in a cashew jungle at Rathapada under Tomka police limits of Jajpur district to destroy the evidence and to cover up their crime to hoodwink police. Tomka police had seized the burnt body which was identified by his wife Saudamini Sahoo. The woman had lodged an FIR at Marshaghai police station the same day.

The six were arrested under Sections 120-B, 302, 201 of the IPC and Sections 25 and 2 of the Arms Act. They were produced before the SDJM Court which remanded them to judicial custody.

Notably, three separate police teams have been carrying out raids at probable hideouts to nab other accomplices involved in the crime. “We will arrest 12 other accused persons soon,” an official said.