Ganjam BJD leader killing: Another suspect held by police taking total arrests to 19

Police Monday arrested another person for his alleged involvement in the murder of a young BJD leader at Chhatrapur in Odisha's Ganjam district, a police officer said. The accused identified as Subrat Patnaik (18) alias Lucky of Pandiripada, was arrested for his alleged involvement in the murder of Laxmidutta Pradhan, a BJD councillor in Chhatrapur NAC on September 17, 2017.

With Patnaik's arrest, the total number of persons arrested in the sensational murder of the BJD leader increased to 19. This included two BJP leaders. Patnaik was absconding after the murder. Police arrested him acting on a tip-off, said Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO), Chhatrapur, Ramesh Chandra Sethi.

BJPs Ganjam district unit secretary Krushna Chandra Nayak and Laxmipur panchayat samiti member N.Duryodhan Reddy were arrested by the police from Dehradun on October 2017 for their alleged involvement in the case. Meanwhile, police again issued a notice to BJP Spokesperson Golak Mohapatra and party's general secretary Bhrugu Buxipatra to be present in the police station at Chhatrapur on February 7 and 9 respectively for questioning in the case."Its a part of the investigation of the case. The notice was issued to them for allegedly harbouring the criminals in this murder case," said the SDPO.