Bhubaneswar, Sept. 17: Police have identified the persons involved in the murder of Chhatrapur BJD councillor Laxmidutta Pradhan in Ganjam district on Saturday and have constituted three teams to nab them.

Director general of police R.P. Sharma today said that prima facie the incident appeared to be the fallout of past enmity.

'The accused have been identified and we have seized two motorcycles and sharp-edged weapons from the spot. All the accused fled the spot after committing the crime. The Ganjam police superintendent has been asked to monitor the case and nab the accused at the earliest,' said Sharma.

Pradhan, a councillor of the Chhatrapur Notified Area Council, was hacked to death by a group of around 10 to 12 goons near his house.

The police are also monitoring the closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage that had captured the entire incident.

Pradhan, 41, a political science graduate from Berhampur University, was one of the most active student leaders of the BJD in Ganjam district. He was managing the student politics in the university till 2010 and subsequently became a councillor in Chhatrapur. He was also instrumental in the growth of the BJD in the area that used to be a stronghold of the Communist Party of India (CPI).

However, the family members of the deceased hinted at the involvement of his political rivals in the murder. Pradhan was one of the accused in the murder of CPI leader Sakura Behera in July 2014 and was out on bail when he was murdered.

'Behera's supporters had been threatening him of dire consequence ever since he came out on bail. We suspect the involvement of one of Behera's supporters who is currently a member of a leading political party,' said a member of the bereaved family.

'Though the police had earlier claimed that the students' union polls was behind the murder, we believe he was killed due to political rivalry,' the family member said.