Journalist Murder: Two of Four Accused Held

Odisha: Thirteen days after the sensational murder of a journalist in Odisha's Ganjam district, two of the four accused were arrested today, police said.

P Shyam Sundar Prusty, owner of a cashew processing unit at Khallikote, and N Ramesh Reddy, owner of a light and sound unit at Berhampur, were arrested from their places while two other accused were still at large, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Chhatrapur, A Ch Padhi said.

Tarun Acharya, a 34-year-old journalist working in a private Odia TV channel, was murdered at Khallikote in Ganjam district on May 28 night while returning home at nearby Bikrampur after completing his work.

Police had recovered his body next day with his throat slit with sharp weapons. Prusty was suspected to be the main conspirator of the crime as he had quarreled with the journalist a few days earlier over a news item on working of children in his cashew processing unit following which he had allegedly arranged contract killers to commit the crime, police said.

Initially, police suspected that old enmity might have led to the incident and investigation was proceeding accordingly. DIG (southern range) Amitabh Thakur had visited the spot to supervise the inquiry.

Advertisement

"During investigation, we got some clues and arrested the duo," SDPO said. A squad has been formed to nab the other two accused who have since been identified and team members have been sent to different places including outside the state to nab them.

Journalist associations across the state had strongly condemned the incident. 

Advertisement