A 27-year-old employee of AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, was shot dead on Monday morning barely three kilometres from the institute.
The victim, identified as Sudhanshu Khuntia of Sarakhanta village, was on his way to work when he was attacked.
Khuntia, a contractual laboratory assistant at AIIMS, was riding his motorcycle when three rounds were fired at him. One bullet pierced his lower left chest, causing him to fall to the ground. Witnesses said he tried to run towards a nearby house to save himself, but his assailants chased him and shot him again at point-blank range in full public view. Locals rushed him to AIIMS, where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
The commissionerate police launched a swift operation and detained three suspects within hours. “We have detained three persons. Family dispute could be the reason behind the shooting. Investigation is on. We are also probing how illegal firearms are entering the state capital,” police commissioner S. Dev Datta Singh said.
Sources said one of the detained persons is a cousin of the deceased, and preliminary investigation suggests the killing was linked to a land dispute. Police have recovered four rounds of ammunition from the spot.
In a separate incident, a young man was found murdered under Infocity police limits, his head smashed with a stone. The victim is yet to be identified but is believed to have been a labourer engaged in construction work nearby.
In another case of lawlessness, a national award-winning teacher was attacked by unidentified miscreants near the railway station and sustained serious injuries.
Former chief minister Naveen Patnaik expressed concern over the incidents, saying, “It’s unfortunate that law and order has been deteriorating in the state. The BJP government seems unconcerned.”