Cuttack, Nov. 12: The Orissa High Court Bar Association has decided to cease work tomorrow "as a mark of protest against police inaction" in the murder of a lawyer in Boudh district.

"We stayed away from court work in the post-lunch session in response to a request letter from the Boudh Civil and Criminal Bar Association. We will continue to boycott court proceedings tomorrow," secretary of the high court bar association Bijay Kumar Ragada told The Telegraph today.

Unidentified goons axed to death Hemanta Sahoo at Bahiri village in the Baunsuni police station limits in Boudh district on November 10. Sahoo was also a BJP leader and the party's Boudh district legal cell convenor.

The BJP block president, Sahoo had gone on a morning walk when some criminals attacked him with axes. The lawyer died on the spot. Earlier, the police had suspected previous enmity as the reason behind the murder.

"We have also asked all bar associations in the state to observe tomorrow as a protest day against the ghastly killing of the lawyer," Ragada said.

In a resolution, the high court bar association demanded "a fair, proper and impartial investigation by an independent agency" and "immediate arrest of the culprits".

Farmer suicide

Kendrapara district registered the second farmer suicide case following death of a small and marginal farmer in Kendrapara tehsil. A 40-year-old farmer Sridhar Sethy from Palasangha village under Kora Gram Panchayat killed himself on Wednesday by jumping into a pond.