Rourkela, May 14: The Government Railway Police (GRP) here have cracked the Christian priest murder case and arrested the assailant.
The alleged assailant, Md Haider, 35, was brought to Rourkela late last evening from Khunti, where he was arrested on charge of murdering Father Abraham Surin, 55, of Khunti in Jharkhand. The crime was committed on the night of May 5. Both Haider and Surin are residents of Khunti.
GRP inspector-in-charge James Samad said: "A team had been working on the case ever since the crime was committed." Soon after the incident, the team went to Khunti but failed to arrest the culprit.
Father Surin's body was found in a railway drain adjacent to an overbridge near Rahmatnagar. The body bore marks of injury on its neck and stomach. Besides, there were injury marks on other parts of the body as well. The blood-stained weapon used in the crime, a chopper with long handle, was also found near the crime scene. However, the priest's belongings, such as his mobile phone, purse, watch and other items were intact.
The CCTV footage of Rourkela railway station revealed that the priest was moving with an unidentified person. Even Father Surin's family members, who arrived from Khunti on the evening of May 6, failed to recognise the person who was accompanying him. "We only had the call details record of the priest and the video footage as clues," said the GRP inspector.
Later, the investigating team established Haider's identity with the help of local police. Local people identified Haider from the CCTV footage. "Haider had borrowed Rs 10,000 from the priest some four months ago and was dillydallying in paying it back. On the evening of May 5, both Surin and Haider reached Rourkela," said Samad.
The police said Haider, during initial interrogation, had confessed to have committed the crime. Besides, the accused persuaded the priest to come to Rourkela with him to purchase a Hanuman coin. "When the priest had asked Haider what the price of the coin would be, the accused asked him to carry Rs 50,000. On reaching Rourkela, they were roaming around," said Samad.
On the evening of May 5, they hired an autorickshaw and got down near the overbridge. "Haider told the priest this was the right place for such deals. He took Father Surin near the drain. There he killed him for the money the father was carrying," said the inspector-in-charge.
However, Haider further said that he had not found the amount the priest was supposed to carry with him. "This is creating confusion and further deepening the mystery," said Samad.
Traffic police station
The district headquarters town's first traffic police station was thrown open in Balasore today.
"The traffic police station was pending for about two years because of the lack of manpower and infrastructure. For the time being, it will run from Sadar police station till we have our own building," said superintendent of police Niti Sekhar.
"We have requested the district administration to provide land at a prime location in the town," he said.
The police station will have an officer each in the rank of sergeant, inspector, assistant sub-inspector alongside 15 constables and 40 home guards.
In the absence of a dedicated traffic police station, the traffic wing was being managed by pooling manpower from Town, Sahadevkhunta and Sadar police stations.
Additional reporting by Sibdas Kundu in Balasore
