Astaranga Quadruple Murder: Puri ADJ Court convicts 3, including couple

Puri: Pronouncing its judgement in the four-year-old quadruple murder case of Astaranga in Puri, the District and Session’s Judge Court here convicted three persons including a couple today.

The accused have been identified as Himadri Sekhar Das alias Rahim Khan, his wife Aisha Begum of Midnapur in West Bengal and Fakir Mallick of Bolagarh in Khordha district.

While all the accused were found guilty under Sections 302, 394, 397 and 120-B of the IPC, the court slated the pronouncement of the quantum of punishment to February 8.

Notably, the sensational quadruple murder case of Astaranga took place in Dinadiha village on September 22, 2015.  The victims Dinabandhu Mallick, his wife Nirmala Mallick and two minor daughters were murdered by the accused with an intention of stealing valuable ornaments and cash from their house.

During the investigation by police in the case, it came to fore that, Dinabandhu’s brother-in-law Fakir who had befriended Himadri during a train journey had later introduced him to the victim family. On the day of the incident, Fakir eliminated the family with the help of Himadri and his wife and carried out the loot.