Cameraman Manas Swain murder case: Accused planned murder to look like suicide

Bhubaneswar: In a new twist in cameraman Manas Swain murder case, the accused had planned the murder to look like suicide case.

Manas was assaulted and killed by the accused. Later, they disposed the body in Ranpur Badhipatana. 

The remand period of the four accused involved in cameraman Manas Swain’s murder case, Sarmishtha Rout, Niranjan Sethi, Jhuna Bhoi, and Ranjan  came to an end on Saturday.

The Crime Branch will request the Chandbali Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court to take remand of these accused for next five days to get more grip into the case and get information from them.

The main accused Sharmistha Rout’s mobile will be sent to the forensic laboratory for further probe. Even Niranjan’s dairy that has been recovered from the Sharmistha’s house has been sent for examination.

Earlier on April 1, Sarmistha Rout confessed to having kidnapped and killed the Manas Swain.

She kidnapped Manas from Palaspur of Chandbali on March 7 with the help of Ranjan Nayak, Jhuna Bhoi, Bhagyadhar Nayak, and Nilu. They brought him to Dayal Ashram in Bhubaneswar and assaulted him brutally until his death. Later, they disposed of the body in Ranpur Badhipatana. She also recreated the crime scenes at different places including Ranpur Badhipatana, where Manas’s body was buried.

Prior to that, the accused Ranjan confessed to having kidnapped Manas from Palaspur under Chandbali police limits in Bhadrak in Sarmistha’s car and brought him to Dayal Ashram under Airfield Police Station in Bhubaneswar.

After disposal of the dead body, the accused people went to a place located on the side of Daitari –Paradeep express Highway about two kilometers from Chandikhole where they burnt the belongings of Manas including one mobile earphone, one pair of footwear of Manas, and a jute sack in which they had wrapped the dead body and saree following which they had thrown the weapons used for digging and burring the dead body in the nearby bush. The shreds of evidence were retrieved from the crime locations with the help of Ranjan.