Bhubaneswar: A Plus II student in Khorda district has been arrested for allegedly killing his close friend to escape frequent blackmail.
The victim, Ashutosh Mohapatra, and the accused, Ashirbad Pradhan, were childhood friends who lived in nearby villages and were both Plus II students.
Ashirbad had shared his relationships and intimate photos with various girls with Ashutosh, who then used them to blackmail Ashirbad for money.
As the blackmail became more frequent and the extortion amount increased, Ashirbad decided to kill Ashutosh.
On January 23, Ashirbad invited Ashutosh to have a drink, got him heavily drunk, and killed him by strangulating him with a rope.
He dumped his body in a well and then made a ransom call to Ashutosh’s father. He was tracked down by police, and confessed to the crime during interrogation.
