Man held for killing 4 of family to get Rs 3L relief

PARADIP: The Odisha police on Tuesday solved the mystery behind the recovery of bodies of a woman and her three children from Mahanadi river near Paradip on May 10.

The accused, Akshaya Sethy, happens to be the father of the deceased woman. He was arrested on Tuesday.

According to police sources, Akshaya on May 9 killed her daughter Mamali Sethi (32), her daughters Barsha (20), Disha (8) and son Munna (5) in a bid to possess a compensation amount of Rs 3 lakh which was released to her by a local fertiselier manufacturing firm following the death her husband, Anant, in a road accident on April 3.

Jagatsinghpur additional superintendent of police B.N. Mishra said, “On May 9, Akshaya initially strangled his two granddaughters — Barsha and Disha — to death and threw the bodies into the river. Later, he killed his daughter Mamali and grandson Munna in the same way and threw their bodies into the river as well.”

The bodies of the deceased were fished out from the river the next day after local residents spotted them and informed the police.

“After her husband’s death, Mamali was given a compensation of Rs 3 lakh by the fertilizer company. The accused asked her to give him some money for the marriage of her younger sister. Mamali refused to part with money. Frustrated, the accused hatched a conspiracy. Suspecting his behaviour, we were keeping a tab on his activities and took him into custody. He has confessed to the crime,” said Mr Mishra.