E-Paper
LJP leader’s body found three days after abduction
PURNIA Body of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Anil Oraon was recovered on Sunday, three days after he was abducted from near his house in Purnia town, triggering violent protests by his kin and supporters
PURNIA
Body of Lok Janshakti Party (LJP) leader Anil Oraon was recovered on Sunday, three days after he was abducted from near his house in Purnia town, triggering violent protests by his kin and supporters.
Oraon (38), a tribal leader and state president of LJP’s scheduled tribes (ST) cell, has unsuccessfully contested 2020 assembly elections from Manihari in Katihar.
He was abducted Thursday last and his family had claimed to have received a ransom call for ₹10 lakh. While his sister Seema Devi had filed a missing report at Khazanchi Hat police station, his family claimed they also paid the ransom to kidnappers.
“Though the family paid ₹10 lakh, the leader was killed,” said a person close to the family.
“Oraon was killed due to a land dispute,” said LJP state general secretary, Shankar Jha, demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.
The situation became tense on Sunday morning after the police recovered Oraon’s body from Dangraha village of Krtiyanand Nagar block in Purnia district, about 10 kms from his residence. The injuries on his body indicated he had been beaten mercilessly before being shot dead. Both his hands were also tied to each other, said a doctor at Purnia district hospital, where Oraon’s body was taken for autopsy.
Later, hundreds of people went on a rampage, vandalising traffic barriers and attacking policemen.
Station house officer of Khazanchi Hat police station, Sunil Kumar Mandal, claimed they had carried out raids and the case would soon be cracked.
Three persons, including a woman, were earlier detained in the case. Police said Oraon’s body was recovered on the basis of information received from these detainees.
A police officer aware of the developments in the case said land dispute was being looked at as a possible motive for the murder.
