Nuapada district witnessed tense scenes on December 8 as villagers blocked the Lakhna–Kurumpuri road with the body of a deceased migrant worker, alleging murder.
The victim, Banchhanidhi Kaibarta (43), also known as Makhanu, had reportedly taken an advance of ₹30,000 from local labour contractor Raju Sunani to work at a brick kiln in Andhra Pradesh. He left his village on Tuesday and stayed at the house of local sardar Arman Khan in Jharani village.
However, two days later, on Saturday, he went missing. Subsequently, his mutilated body was discovered near the railway track close to Mahulbahali village, about 2 km from Jharani.
GRP police from Kantabanji recovered the body and later sent it to Titilagarh hospital for a post-mortem. Although identification was delayed, officials eventually confirmed the victim’s identity. Meanwhile, his wife, Binati Kaibarta, alleged that her husband had been murdered.
As news spread, angry villagers staged a protest by placing the body on the main road and demanding justice. Consequently, Lakhna police officer Ranjan Kumar Nayak reached the spot and persuaded the agitators to withdraw after assuring them of a thorough investigation and strict action against those found guilty.
Moreover, several local leaders joined the protest, including Congress leader Ravi Mangaraj, Gurucharan Bag, Ranjan Kaibarta, Arjun Majhi, Zilla Parishad member Bhanupratap Majhi, Debendra Bag, Bidyadhar Sabar, Nriparaj Bariha, Kartik Bariha, Tipichand Kaibarta, and Bharat Rout.
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