One Year After BMC Staffer's Gruesome Murder, His Family Waits For Arrest Of Main Culprits In Odisha's Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: A year after Sahadev Nayak, a 32 year-old sanitation supervisor engaged with Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and a 'police mitra' was killed in broad daylight, police are yet to arrest the three main accused in the case.

It was a cold morning of January 8, 2025 and the state capital was put under a blanket of tight security for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city to inaugurate the 18th Pravasi Bharatiya Divas when Nayak's blood-stained body was found at Rasulgarh locality. The culprits, despite heavy police presence, brutally murdered Nayak by decapitating him before escaping the spot.

A year after the incident, Nayak's house at Kedarpalli Basti, Ward No 41 at Bapuji Nagar wears a desolate look. Nayak owned a gym which is now locked and his pet dog 'Dragon' seems to be in eternal wait for his master. Nayak's s wife Sunita, who works as a contractual employee in BMC, takes care of her two daughters and manages household manages at a meagre monthly salary of Rs 12,000.

The only solace for Sunita is that former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is bearing the education expenses of her daughters. Sunita wants justice for her husband. "It has been a year since I lost my husband. Till today, the criminals are roaming free. The police should arrest them and give them exemplary punishment".

Sahadev Nayak's family and his acquaintances at the gym (ETV Bharat)

Nayak's daughters Shreya and Sampurna study in a private school near Ram Mandir in Bhubaneswar. While Shreya is old enough to understand the gravity of the incident which shook the state, Sampurna, who is in Class II, does not and still hopes her father will return home one day. Nayak's elder brother Munna said, 'The family will get some peace if the main culprits are caught and given the right punishment."

He said Nayak was active in the 'drug-free campaign' of the police and worked as a 'police mitra' for around eight years. "Dreaming of making the slum where he resided, drug-free, he had opened a free gym for the youth. He was targeted by the criminals because he informed the police about the activities of the liquor and drug smuggling mafia", Munna said.

Nayak's friend Silu said drug abuse remains a pertinent issue in the slum. "Nayak used to fight against the mafia. But now drug abuse is rampant in the slum," he alleged. While nine accused have been arrested in the murder case and are lodged in Jhadpada jail, the three main accused have not been caught yet.

Meanwhile, Mancheswar IIC Dayanidhi Nayak said the chargesheet in the case has been filed. Police have arrested nine accused and action will be taken against the rest of the culprits," he said.

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