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`Kidnapped' engineering student found dead

Staff Reporter

Two accused persons arrested, another at large

BHUBANESWAR: In a tragic turn of events, an engineering student who was kidnapped allegedly by his friend from the city on Sunday was found dead in Phase-7 area of Kalinga Vihar Township near here on Thursday.

The death of Pritish Ranjan Das alias Hapi, a first year student of B.Tech. (Mechanical) at Jagannath Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jagatpur, sent shock waves in Baramunda area, where he lived with his parents.

While two persons accused in the case were arrested, another person was missing. All the accused persons were in the 20-25 age-group.

The mystery began to unravel after the main accused person in the case Papu Ranjan Swain alias Papu, who was known to Hapi, was arrested by the Khandagiri police.

Body recovered

However, the body of the victim could be located only when another accused person in the case Soumya Ranjan Sahoo alias Kabu spilled the beans during interrogation on Thursday. Subsequently, the police retrieved the body, which was partially decomposed. The kidnap drama was staged on Sunday when Papu took Hapi to an unknown place. He reportedly tried to convince Hapi to be part of the kidnap episode and become a partner in the ransom money. However, Hapi did not agree to the idea. It was suspected that he was killed on that day itself.

Trap laid

Subsequently, the accused person, who was allegedly assisted by Kabu and another teenager Santosh Khuntia, tried to strike a deal with victim's father, a bank employee. They demanded a ransom of Rs. 5 lakhs. The police, however, laid a trap and managed to arrest Papu who had come to receive the ransom on Tuesday night. Before the police produced Papu in court, he had revealed the name of Kabu. Inspector in-charge of Khandagiri police station Sashi Bhusan Satpathy said: "The victim was murdered as the main accused persons was known to him. The fear of getting exposed in the kidnap drama might have prompted the gang to kill Hapi."

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