Berhampur: Two persons allegedly involved in the murder of a realtor after abduction in April were injured following exchange of fire with police near Ratanpur under Berhampur Sadar police station limits late on Monday night.The accused were identified as Ranjan Mallick (27) of Nuagaon near Badagada, and Saroj Panda (35) of Sikiri in Hinjili police station limits, allegedly involved in abduction and murder of Sudhir Patra, a businessman, last month. After committing crime they absconded.A police team from Berhampur has arrested four persons, including Mallick and Panda, from Rajasthan in connection with Patra’s murder. On way near Ratanpur, Panda and Mallick allegedly snatched the police team’s pistol and fired at the cops in a bid to escape from custody, said police.“In self-defence, police opened counter-fire for which they suffered gunshot injuries in their legs,” said SP (Berhampur) Saravana Vivek M. They have been admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital here for treatment and their condition is stated to be stable. He said two police personnel have also suffered minor injuries following the firing.Two other accused were identified as Mukesh Sahu (38) of Nandiagada near Kabisurya Nagar, and Sunit Singh Sunil Rajput (31) of Godadara of Surat in Gujarat.A group of people allegedly abducted Sudhir Patra (47) of Satyanarayanpur near Gopalpur from Dura on April 16, and demanded ransom of Rs 1 crore from his family. Police recovered his decomposed body from Ketamani hill under Sorada police station limits on April 22.Police had arrested nine people, including Nibedita Patra (23) and Tushar Patra (19), the niece and nephew of the deceased, respectively, on April 23 while searching others involved in the case.Police said the fresh arrestees were involved in several other cases in Ganjam and Surat, including murder, attempt to murder and narcotic cases. Panda was allegedly involved in at least five cases, including a narcotic case in Surat, Mallick was involved in a murder case in Surat. Mukesh and Rajput were also involved in three and two cases, including murder in Surat, respectively, police said.
