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Bhubaneswar, Oct 31 (IANS) The District and Sessions Judge court in Dhenkanal on Friday sentenced eight people to life imprisonment for the murder of a person due to political rivalry during campaigning for the 2017 gram panchayat elections in Tarwa area of the district.
The culprits have been identified as Byomkesh Biswal, Tryambaka Biswal, Mrityunjay Biswal, Samarendra Biswal, Kulmani Behera, Debendra Swain, Hridanand Biswal and Manmohan Biswal.
According to reports, the deceased, 24-year-old Salman Raut, said to be a BJP supporter, was chatting with some of his friends, including complainant Bikram Keshari Mallick, near a local shop at Godi Sahi in Tarawa area on the evening of February 4, 2017.
Meanwhile, the accused belonging to a rival political party reached the spot and started pasting posters on the nearby wall. When the deceased and his friends protested against this act, a heated argument broke out between the two groups. Although Raut was not initially involved in the confrontation, he was attacked when he tried to intervene.
After this the accused fired at Raut, who hit him in the chest and seriously injured him. The victim and the complainant were taken to Dhenkanal District Headquarters Hospital, where doctors declared Raut “brought dead”.
The murder sparked widespread violence in the Tarawa region, forcing the police to impose prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the CrPC to prevent further violence.
The case, which was first investigated by the Dhenkanal district police, was handed over to the Odisha Crime Branch about a week after the incident.
“The incident was the culmination of political jealousy and rivalry between supporters of two opposing parties during the campaign phase of the Gram Panchayat elections in Tarawa Gram Panchayat in February 2017. During the investigation, several eyewitnesses were questioned, two firearms – including the one used in the crime – were seized and 15 accused persons in the case were sent to jail,” the crime branch said in a statement on Friday.
The court delivered its verdict on October 28, 2025, while the sentence was announced on Friday.
–IANS
gyan/pgh