Contract killer arrested in Biranchi murder case

Chagala, the contract killer accused in the murder of  Budhia's coach Biranchi Das, was taken to the office of the assistant commissioner of police for interrogation after arriving at Bhubaneswar airport on Thursday. He was arrested by the Bhopal police while appearing on a live interview with a private TV channel on April 22. Chagala is the co-accused in the case in which gangster Raja Acharya is the main accused.

A special team led by assistant commissioner of police Suresh Mohapatra left for Bhopal to bring him back to Bhubaneswar.

Biranchi Das, a state judo coach, was shot dead at close range by three motorcycle-borne assailants on April 13 in front of the Judo Association hall. The police claim they have definite information that Chagala had accompanied the assailants.

Chagala had told a local TV channel that he was given a 'supari' of Rs 10 lakh to kill Biranchi and alleged that senior IAS officer Priyabrata Pattnaik was behind the murder. However, the IAS officer had rubbished the allegation as "baseless and false". Patnaik, who is also president of the Orissa Judo Association and a close friend of Biranchi, had sought police protection apprehending threat to his life after Raja Acharya's outburst against him telecast by a local TV channel.

The police have also arrested one Tukuna, another associate of the gangster from Cuttack, and handed over him to the Bhubaneswar police for further interrogation. The police are optimistic that Chagala and Tukuna would provide  vital clues to Biranchi's murder, which still remains a mystery.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch raided the premises of Brijbasi Iron and Steel at Mancheswar on Wednesday and arrested one of its promoters and his father in connection with the illegal railway scrap trade.

The illegal scrap deal came into the limelight after the murder of Biranchi Das and the Crime Branch suspected that the well-organised scrap trade in the state capital was going on in connivance with railway officials, police and the Railway Protection Force.

The police are probing if the illegal scrap deal, running into crores, had any link with Biranchi's murder, carried out since he had come to know about the illegal trade and threatened to divulge the details to the media.