The Crime Branch of Odisha Police Saturday arrested four people for the murder of a ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader in the state's Bolangir district nearly a fortnight ago.
The Crime Branch sleuths arrested Alok Das, Jagadish Bag, Santosh Rana and Naresh Singh on the basis of evidences collected against them, Additional Director General of Police (Crime Branch) B.K. Sharma told reporters.
All the accused are natives of Bolangir district. The motive behind the murder appears to be business rivalry, he said.
BJD youth wing's state general secretary Abhimanyu Sahu, 43, was found Dec 15 with his throat slit by the roadside near his home town Titilagarh in Bolangir district, about 400 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.
The accused followed Sahu in a car when he was taking a morning walk. They planned to kill him by crushing him under the car. But when Sahu managed to survive, they slit his throat with sharp weapons.
The Crime Branch sleuths seized a car and a bike used to commit the offence, Sharma said.