6 of family get lifer in Nabarangpur murder case

Bhubaneswar: A court in Nabarangpur district on Wednesday convicted six members of a family in connection with a murder case registered at Kodinga police station of the district in 2022. The convicts were identified as Ananta Pujari (50), his wife Dalimba, sons Siba Sankar, Chandan and his 70-year-old father Dumar Pujari.

The convicts belong to Baramasi village under Kodinga police station area of Nabarangpur district. “Both the families had been at loggerheads due to some ancestral property-related disputes.”

On August 9, 2022, when the deceased Dambaru Pujari, along with his other family members, including two women members, were plucking beans in their garden, the convicts, armed with weapons, arrived at the spot, said Santosh Mishra, Additional Public Prosecutor.

Mishra said the convicts suddenly started assaulting Damabru and his brother Padlam Pujari with sharp weapons. They also drove a tractor over Padlam with the intention to kill him. Padlam sustained serious leg injuries. Subsequently, Dalimba and Chandan allegedly stabbed Dambaru

The accused Siba and a minor then ran the tractor over Damabru.

They later fled the spot assuming Damabru to be dead. One of the brothers of the deceased, Bharat, rushed Dambaru and Padlam to District Headquarters Hospital, Nabarangpur.

The doctors later referred Dambaru to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. However, Dambaru succumbed to injuries while undergoing treatment.

Based on the complaint lodged by the deceased’s brother, police registered a case and arrested the accused on September 10, 2022. The court, after examining the statements of witnesses and other evidence, pronounced its judgment on Wednesday. All the accused were sentenced to life imprisonment.