Berhampur: Police on Tuesday recovered the bullet-ridden body of an MBA student, Jitendra Pradhan alias Jitu, 24, of Bhogara village, 100km away from the city.
Jitendra had been missing since August 28.
"On Monday, we recovered Jitendra's motorcycle from the Kiriamba forest. It was buried there. On Tuesday, we recovered his body about 100 metres away from the spot, where had found his motorcycle. Scientific team and sniffer dogs helped us trace the bike and the body," said Bhanjanagar sub-divisional police officer Utkal Keshari Das.
"We have arrested two persons, including Pravanjan Tripathy, the business partner of Jitendra. The two had started a poultry farm at their village two years ago. Financial dispute could be the reason behind the murder," Das said.
Hundreds of armed tribal villagers have resorted to roadblock at Tinchakia since Monday afternoon. Plying of vehicles on the Bhanjanagar-Daspalla road was disrupted because of it. Police officers rushed the spot to maintain law and order. Two platoons of police have been deployed.
On September 2, Jitendra's family members lodged an FIR at Tarsingh police station when he went missing.
The villagers demand stringent punishment to the killers and adequate compensation to the deceased's family. They also criticised the police inaction in investigating the case. Earlier, they had taken out a rally at Bhanjanagar under the banner Bharat Adibasi Sabha and demanded tracing of Jitendra among other things. Their delegation had also met the collector.
Sources said Jitendra was studying MBA in a private college in Bhubaneswar. As he was residing there most of the time, Pravanjan used to manage the business. Jitendra had invested Rs 2 lakh in the farm. Pravanjan said Jitendra had already taken Rs 1.80 lakh and used to demand money frequently from him.
Jitendra came to the village on August 26 and was scheduled to return to Bhubaneswar on August 28. He had told his mother that he would return home after collecting the money from Pravanjan. However, he had gone missing.
