Other States - Orissa   

Biranchi murder: main suspect surrenders

Raja Acharya

BHUBANESWAR: Hours after gangster Raja Acharya, prime suspect in Biranchi Das murder case, surrendered before the Goa police on Monday, a three-member team of State police headed for Panaji to seek his custody.

Suresh Mohapatra, the Assistant Commissioner of Police, was leading the team to Panaji where local police were completing the formalities. The gangster was expected to be here by Wednesday.

Acharya was involved in 35 cases including murder and extortion but he caught the public imagination when he was suspected to be the killer of Biranchi Das, the former coach of child marathoner Buddhia Singh.

The gangster had been elusive for over 20 days after the sensational murder. The probe into the murder case appeared to be a non-starter without his arrest.

Although scores of raids were conducted in Orissa as well as outside, police was unable to trace the gangster. On Saturday, police finally moved the local court, which pronounced the suspect as an absconder and issued non-bailable warrant against him.

After his surrender in Panaji, Commissioner of Police Binoy Behera claimed that police had kept an electronic surveillance on him.

“I personally talked to the Goa Director General of Police B. S Brar in the morning, by then Acharya had not been arrested. We had also previously passed the information about his whereabouts in Goa.” Subsequently, the Goa police arrested him,” he reveals.

Although witnesses have clearly identified Acharya as the person who had fired on Biranchi Das, interrogation of the gangster would solve several questions on the motive behind the killing as well as presence of any co-conspirators, Mr. Behera said.

“When Chagala, a close aide of Acharya, had surrendered in Bhopal a few days ago, he given his side of version. But it is always better to listen from horse’s mouth,” the Commissioner of Police said.

He revealed that the gangster had given police slip on a few occasions quite narrowly. Police teams had been intensely working to crack the case.

Meanwhile, rumours are rife that the gangster had called up several media persons here before the surrender.

He had taken names of a few influential persons including a top police administrator.

Two theories were doing the round as motive behind the murder.

A few police officials said dispute over misutilisation of money received by two trusts formed in name of Buddhia Singh was a strong reason. Biranchi Das’s alleged interference in gangster’s affairs with music video actress Leslie Tripathy also continued to be on top of minds of investigators.

Police brass is hopeful that interrogation of the accused will finally help them in cracking the case.

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