One more held in Odisha de-addiction centre counsellor murder

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Rourkela, Jan 5:

Commissionerate Police arrested one more accused from here for his alleged involvement in the murder of a de-addiction centre counsellor-cum-caretaker on the outskirts of Odisha capital, police said today.

The accused– Ashok Verma—was nabbed by Mancheswar police from the Steel City who was absconding since the incident.

It may be recalled that two inmates of the de-addiction center accused of killing the counsellor were apprehended by Mancheswar Police last Friday night.

Notably, the deceased Sumit Ranjan Behera, hailing from Rajkanika in Kendrapara district, was working with a de-addication centre—Prayas– at Naharkanta as counsellor-cum-caretaker since 2010.

As per reports, some of the inmates wanted to celebrate Christmas and New Year celebrations outside the centre which was rejected by Behera.

On December 29, the 20-year-old was tied up, beaten before strangulating him to death to get away from the Centre. The counsellor had to pay with his life for resisting the inmates who were demanding for the keys to escape from the facility. Following the incident, around 36 inmates of the de-addiction facility ran away.