Bhadrak, Nov 22 (PTI) Police have arrested four persons for their alleged involvement in the killing of the former sarpanch of Bandhagain panchayat in Odisha’s Bhadrak district, an officer said on Friday.

The Bhadrak rural police arrested the four persons on Thursday after a week-long investigation, he said.

Police said the four accused hatched a plan and killed Chittaranjan Rout, the former sarpanch, on the night of November 12.

Police have identified the alleged accused as Bidyut Sahoo, Saroja Sahoo, Badal Samal and Prasant Rout. All of them belong to Bandhagain village under Bhadrak rural police station limits.

During the investigation, the police found that Bidyut had contacted Samal to kill the former sarpanch two months ago. The deal was finalized at Rs 2.5 lakh and Rs 40,000 was paid in advance to Samal.

Samal along with his two friends laid the plan and executed it accordingly. They invited Chittaranjan Rout to a party. They consumed alcoholic beverages together on the night of November 12. When Rout was returning home in a drunken state, the four persons killed him with lethal weapons, Bhadrak rural police station inspector-in-charge Amitab Das said.

The motive behind the killing is suspected to be business rivalry, he said.

Police have seized the knife used in the crime and the mobile phone of the deceased from the accused, Das said. PTI CHOIR BBM BBM RG

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