Rape and murder accused held after 14 years

Fourteen years after the crime, a fugitive was arrested for allegedly raping and killing a minor girl in Orissa's Balasore district, police said today.

A 15-year-old girl of Kadamsahi village in Nilagiri police station was raped and then murdered near a bushy field when she had gone out for natures call on June 11, 1995 evening.

Three people - Pradip Medinray, Umesh Rana and Sanatan Behera - had allegedly abducted the girl from the field, raped her and then strangulated to death.

Sanatan was acquitted due to lack of evidence and Umesh was convicted. But Pradip was absconding since the crime, the sources said adding they nabbed him from a 'math' in Jajpur District on Thursday.

Sub-Divisional police officer of Nilgiri, Sarat Chandra Mallick said, "On getting a tip-off we raided a math on the bank of river Kharasrota in Jajpur district and arrested the accused where he was hiding as Pradip Ray."

Pradip has admitted before the police that he shifted from place to place after the rape incident in order to evade arrest, he said.