SUBARNAPUR — Four accused arrested by the police on charges of attempted murder in a preplanned manner. The incident revealed that Arjun Rath and accused Surendra Nayak had been working together for about a decade under a catering contract for various events like weddings, birthday parties, corporate events and other social gatherings. In this work, Arjun Rath worked as a chef, while accused Surendra Nayak was engaged in preparing fast food. About four years before the incident, there was a fight between the complainant’s son Om Prakash Rath and accused Surendra Nayak’s son Biswanath Nayak over a trivial matter. Since that day, there was a rift between them and in this incident, the main accused Surendra Nayak was looking for an opportunity to take revenge on the complainant Arjun Rath. Due to this dispute, the complainant Arjun Rath did not include the accused Surendra Nayak in any of his catering contracts. Due to this tension, the accused Surendra Nayak used to threaten the relatives and acquaintances of Mr. Rath that he would kill the complainant Arjun Rath. According to the plan to kill the complainant Mr. Rath, before the incident, the accused Surendra Nayak; Nilambar Karna of Antapali (who worked as Surendra’s driver); Jayakumar Panda of Bejpali (Surendra’s brother-in-law); and Ramananda Pradhan of Pipalkata hatched a criminal conspiracy to kill Arjun Rath by causing a vehicle accident. In the course of the said conspiracy, on 27.08.2026, the accused Surendra Nayak purchased a new ‘Jio’ SIM card in the name of his cook Kumudini Meher from ‘Purohit Mobile Shop’ in Sonpur and connected the said SIM card to a new ‘Jio Bharat’ mobile phone. On 31.08.2026, accused Ramananda Padhan contacted Arjun Rath using the said mobile phone and informed him about the need for food supply or catering for a Shuddhikriya (death feast). He offered to pay advance money and asked Arjun Rath to come to Birmaharajpur to collect the advance money. As per the plan, on that day at around 6:30 PM, Arjun Rath along with Sushant Patra were coming to Birmaharajpur on their motorcycle to bring the advance money for the proposed catering contract. Accused Surendra Nayak and Ramananda Padhan were following Arjun Rath’s motorcycle on a motorcycle and accused Nilambar Karna was following them in Surendra Nayak’s Bolero pickup vehicle (Regd.No. OD-31-N-8879). When Arjun Rath and Sushant Patra reached Kumarkeli Chowk, the accused Nilambar Karna drove the said Bolero pickup vehicle at high speed and hit them with the intention of killing Arjun Rath. Although it was a premeditated murder attempt, the accused tried to avoid getting caught by making it an accident. The pickup vehicle No. OD-31-N-8879 hit the motorcycle carrying Arjun Rath and Sushant Patra and broke it, causing serious injuries to both Arjun Rath and Sushant Patra. They were initially treated at the Subarnapur District Head Quarter Hospital and were shifted to Bhima Bhoi Medical College, Balangir as their condition was critical. When a complaint was filed with the Birmaharajpur police in this regard, it was registered as an accident, but proper investigation revealed that it was a premeditated murder attempt. Therefore, this case has been taken as a Special Reported and the accused have been arrested on the basis of detailed evidence of the incident and they are being tried in court on Wednesday. In this regard, Supdt. Of Police Narayan Nayak informed at a press conference held at the District Police Headquarters on Wednesday. Four mobile phones, one pickup vehicle, one super splendor motor cycle involved in the incident have been seized. A case has been registered under Birmaharajpur PS case No . 223/09/09/2026 U/s.281/125(a)/125(b) BNS and the accused Surendra Nayak, Nilambar Karna, Jayakumar Panda and Ramananda Padhan have been arrested and tried in court. The incident is being investigated by Birmaharajpur IIC Jayati Keshari Sahu under the supervision of Subarnapur Supdt. Of Police . Report — Ugrasen Karmi.
Four accused arrested on charges of attempted murder in a preplanned manner: Vehicle seized.
