Koraput: A Class IX student and his 18-year-old elder brother, who studies in Class XII, were apprehended for the murder of a Class X student, Mahesh Bag, on Sunday evening.Police said the adult accused has been arrested and remanded in judicial custody after being produced before a local court. His 14-year-old brother has been produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which sent him to a correctional home.According to the police, the incident occurred during the lunch break on July 31 when 15-year-old Mahesh and five other students had stepped out of their school to buy biscuits. The juvenile accused allegedly had an ongoing dispute with one of his classmates, who was part of Mahesh’s group.“The argument between the students escalated outside the school premises. The juvenile accused then informed his elder brother, who arrived at the spot carrying a knife,” said SDPO (Jeypore) Archita Mittal.Mittal said the 18-year-old accused allegedly tried to attack the Class IX student with whom his brother had a dispute. Mahesh intervened in an attempt to defuse the situation. During the ensuing scuffle, one of the accused allegedly restrained Mahesh while the other stabbed him in the abdomen with the knife.Mahesh was taken to a nearby private hospital in a critical condition, where doctors declared him dead.Following a complaint, Jeypore Sadar police registered a murder case and launched an investigation. Police seized the knife allegedly used in the crime during the course of the investigation.“The accused had fled after committing the offence, but both were traced and apprehended within 48 hours. Scientific evidence and other material collected during the investigation have helped us establish the sequence of events,” Mittal said.The murder triggered widespread protests in Bariniput, with residents blocking the national highway near Bariniput police outpost for two days, demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. The blockade resulted in long traffic jams on both sides of the highway and severely disrupted normal life.
