Majhi murder: Role of Supari killers suspected

BHUBANESWAR: A full Crime Branch team got down to the job of unravelling the mystery behind Umerkote MLA Jagabandhu Majhi’s murder at Nabarangpur even as the investigation increasingly pointed at use of hired killers. IG Susant Kumar Nath, who had served as Nabarangpur SP in the past, was given charge of the probe and being assisted by an Additional SP, two DSPs and as many Inspectors of the Criminal Investigation Department, sources said. A forensic team also collected evidence from the crime scene. With no Maoist outfit staking claim for the murder till Monday, the CB investigation was increasingly pointing to the role of groups or rivals Majhi may have made during his rise as a prominent political leader in the area. “It could be a large group of people which was hired for the killing,” said reliable sources. The CB strongly believed that the group may well have been hired from neighbouring Chhattisgarh and was constantly in touch with its counterpart seeking intelligence on movement of any such outfit. “Since Majhi was under target of his enemies as would the previous attacks vouch, they may well have given contract to a professional group to give shape to their mission,” said sources. However, the Crime Branch sources maintained that there was no definite clue to point who could be behind the killing and different leads are being examined.