People hold a rally expressing solidarity with the bereaved family in Pattamundai township.Telegraph picture

Kendrapara, March 8: Tension prevailed in Pattamundai township a day after the recovery of the body of an 11-year-old school student. Rajkumar Jena was found murdered on the Hanshua riverbank.

People protested for the second day against the ransom-murder of the boy. Streets were deserted and shops and commercial establishment downed their shutters. Security was tightened at various places of the town to prevent breach of peace.

Kendrapara lawyers appealed to their fraternity not to offer legal assistance to five youths, who were arrested for murdering Rajkumar and dumping his body in the Hansua river.

“Two of the principal assailants hail from this town. A mob attacked and ransacked their houses,” said Pattamundai police station inspector Amitabh Mahapatra.

Tension prevailed as people expressed their anger over Rajkumar’s murder. They claimed that prompt police action could have saved the boy’s life.

The body of the victim, who was kidnapped for ransom on March 4, was found yesterday on the Hanshua riverbank in Rajnagar.

The five youths who had committed the crime for ransom were old acquaintances of the deceased’s family

They confessed to the crime and revealed that they killed the boy as they lost hopes of getting the ransom amount. They were remanded in judicial custody today after a local court rejected their bail applications.

“The victim’s mother had reported at the police station on March 4 that her son was missing. But the police did nothing after registering a missing report. Those responsible for messing up the investigation ought to be taken to task,” said former minister Ganeswar Behera. The Kendrapara district bar association, in a unanimous resolution, condemned the incident and sought action against the errant cops.

“We have also requested the bar members and legal fraternity not to offer legal assistance to the assailants,” said district bar association president Dhruba Charan Sahu.

Local college students took to the streets, staging a roadblock for the second successive day, paralysing traffic. Asked about the delayed police investigation, Kendrapara superintendent of police Sarthak Sadangi said: “The matter is being investigated.”