Fear of psycho killer grips Cuttack

Fear of a suspected psycho serial killer gripped Cuttack, Odisha’s second-biggest urban centre after capital city Bhubaneswar, following three murder cases which occurred within a short span of 24 hours.

The modus operandi of the triple murder was the same, which led the police and the general public to believe that the crimes were committed by a psychopath. “The style of the crime indicates towards a serial killer with mental disorder,” said a senior police official of the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack commissionerate of police.

Significantly, the targets of the suspected perpetrator were the same. All the three victims were poor who slept on the pavements at night.

The Cuttack murders come at a time when the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government has found itself at the receiving end of criticism from the Opposition on law and order, which has turned into a major headache for the state police. Nevertheless, the Bhubaneswar-Cuttack police formed a special team to crack the case as early as possible.

The first of the three murders came to light late on Tuesday night, when the locals found a 55-year-old daily wage worker, Kodanda Rout, in a pool of blood with his throat slit in Ranihat area of the city.

This was followed by two similar killings on Wednesday – one under an overbridge near OMP square and another at Mangalabag, close to SCB medical college and hospital, the state’s biggest health facility.

Cuttack, which is located about 25 kms from the capital Bhubaneswar, is also home to the state police’s headquarters as well as the High Court. Like the first murder, the victims of second and third murders were also daily workers.

If police sources are to be believed, apart from forming a special team to nab the culprit, they have also decided to increase and strengthen night patrolling in the city. The local police also requested the state government to increase the number of night shelters for the poor in the city.

Currently, Cuttack has only six-night shelters.