Dhenkanal: Police on Thursday arrested eight persons in the murder case of district youth BJD chief Jasobanta Parida. The cops ruled out political rivalry behind the murder and said personal grudge was the motive.

The mastermind of the crime, Rakesh Nath, 27, of Alutuma village, had nurtured a grudge against Parida because the latter had opposed an extortion bid by Nath from a canal construction company. Nath also blamed Parida for the sacking of his father, who used to work as a security guard with the construction company.

"Nath hatched the plot to kill Parida and roped in three men. The four first snatched Rs 5 lakh in Nayagarh and later stole an SUV from Saheed Nagar in Bhubaneswar on March 12. This car was used in the crime," said Kamakhyanagar sub-divisional police officer S. Mallick.

The cops said the four accused, armed with gun and bombs, followed Parida for two days and finally got the opportunity when he was alone on the morning of March 26. Nath and another accused, Prakash Naik, 27, from Khordha shot Parida multiple times and also lobbed bombs at him. Parida was rushed to the nearest hospital where he was declared brought dead.

The other six accused have been identified as Tabu Khan, Kamalakanta Mahapatra, Prabin Sahu, Suvendhu Kumar Samantray, Jitendra Mansingh and Santosh Padhi.

The police said while two were arrested from outside the state, six were held from Talcher in Angul district.

The accused fled into a nearby forest after abandoning the car and contacted their Talcher associates who took away them on two motorcycles. Later, the accused went to Khurda where they took shelter in two crusher units before escaping from the state.