5 held for murder of Cuttack youth

Cuttack: Five persons were arrested after a youth was shot dead during a drunken brawl in Cuttack, police said on Saturday. A group had gathered at abandoned government quarters in the Press Colony for a feast.

“When all the youths were drunk, a heated argument broke out between two of them, Soumyaranjan Jena (33) and Utkal Keshari Pashayet. Pashayet shot Soumya from a close range under the provocation of other friends,” DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo.

“The bullet hit Soumya between the chest and stomach. As he was conscious and talking, his friends took the firing lightly and thought that he would be okay after medical care,” the officer said.

Jena was later taken to SCB Medical College and Hospital, where he was declared dead. Pashayet was arrested on charge of murder, while Priyabrata Tripathy, Himanshu Sekhar Nayak and Rudra Prasad Chand were nabbed for supplying the firearm, hiding it, helping the accused escape and attempting to destroy evidence, police said.

Another accused, Abhijit Mohanty, who brought the gun, was also arrested, they said. Three vehicles and the gun used in the crime were seized, police said.