KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, May 30: A 45-year-old bed-ridden man was hacked to death by his neighbour in Seraikela in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district about 30 km away from here on Monday morning.
The murder victim identified as Uttam Pradhan was a railway employee posted at Sini railway station in Seraikela.
Initial investigation suggests that the ailing Pradhan was murdered unprovoked. The police have succeeded to arrest the assailant, Raja Pradhan (35) within hours of the murder.
The ghastly incident has taken place at Murup village under Sini thana out-post (TOP) in Seraikela at about 8 am today.
According to police, the ailing Pradhan was lying on the bed at his house when the neighbour Raja Pradhan barged into the house with a chopper and started hitting him with it until the victim did not turn motionless. Having killed the sick man, the assailant ran away from the spot.
“From the initial investigation, we have found that when Raja came out from his house with the chopper, his wife had followed her anxiously to stop him from attacking Pradhan, but she failed to prevent her husband from committing the murder, ” said OC, Sini TOP, Kumar Gautam.
Gautam said they have caught the assailant and recovered the murder weapon, but could not say anything about the reason behind the murder.
“There is no apparent reason behind the murder. The murder victim was an amicable person and he had no enmity with the assailant as such. But we are trying to find out the reason behind this drastic step that he took, ” said the OC.
The murder victim’s younger brother, Ajay Pradhan said his brother was bed-ridden for the past six months and had a cordial relationship with all the neighbours, including the assailant.
“We are yet to understand the reason behind Raja Pradhan’s inhumane and criminal act against my ailing brother,” said the bereaved brother.
