Berhampur: BJD leaders on Tuesday demanded arrest of BJP spokesperson and party's Ganjam chief Golak Mahapatra and accused him of being the main conspirator in the murder of BJD's Chatrapur Notified Area Council councillor Laxmidutta Pradhan.

The BJD and several of its mass organisations burnt Mohapatra's effigy in front of the office of the IG (southern range) and submitted a memorandum seeking immediate arrest of the BJP leader.

Pradhan was killed by goons in front of his Surya Nagar residence on September 16. BJD leaders, including Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik, Chatrapur MLA Priyanshu Pradhan and Sorada MLA Purna Chandra Swain, took part in the protest. Berhampur mayor K. Madhavi and Berha-mpur Development Authority chairman Subash Chandra Maharana were also present.

"The mastermind behind Pradhan's murder Krushna Chandra Nayak, who is the Ganjam secretary of the BJP, was nabbed from Dehradun in Uttarakhand, along with N. Duryodhan Reddy, who is Lakshmipur samiti member. During interrogation, they have told the police that BJP spokesperson Mahapatra had arranged for their stay in Uttarakhand," said the BJD's Berhampur MLA.

He praised the role of Ganjam police chief Ashis Singh in challenging the goons.

"The crime rate in Ganjam has dropped and we must thank the chief minister for appointing such an efficient police officer here," Ramesh Chandra Chau Patnaik said.

"I demand immediate arrest of Golak Mohapatra," said Ganjam president of the BJD's youth wing N. Dhananjaya Rao. "We had requested the magistrate to take Nayak and Reddy on seven days' remand for further interrogation," Singh said.