Bhubaneswar, Nov 2 (IANS): The Commissionerate Police on Thursday claimed to have cracked the murder case of a minor student at Benapanjari village in Jatni area of the Khordha district in Odisha.

The deceased, Subham Swarup Paltasingh, a class-IX student of Adarsha Vidyalaya at Sandhapur, was a resident of Benapanjuri village.

Deputy Commissioner of Police of Bhubaneswar, Prateek Singh said a juvenile has been detained by police on the charges of stabbing the 14-year-old minor to death on Wednesday over some dispute with the victim’s father related to pending tuition fees.

He said that after being informed the ACP zone-III and IIC of Jatni Police station along with other staff reached the spot immediately and initiated a probe into the matter. Police questioned the locals and family members to know the reason behind the incident and the persons involved in the killing.

“The deceased was at home at 5.30 pm in the evening when his parents and family members, who were in other rooms giving tuition to some students, heard a sound and rushed to his room. They saw the deceased had been attacked by someone and was bleeding profusely. They took him to the hospital where the doctors declared him dead,” DCP Singh said while addressing media persons.

Singh revealed that during inspection the investigating team received a vital clue from the crime scene. The investigating officials found a school bag from the spot. The cops later managed to get the preliminary identification of the accused through the uniform and other materials kept in the bag.

“The uniform and bag belonged to a plus-II student and during further enquiry the villagers confirmed about seeing him in the area in the past too. Later, the student was asked to come to the police station. During interrogation, he also agreed to have committed the crime. He confessed to the police that he was getting tuition from the deceased’s parents and some amount of the tuition fee was pending.

“The accused used to feel embarrassed as the deceased’s parents repeatedly ask him for the pending dues in public. He got angry due to the humiliation and assaulted the minor with a knife leading to the victim's death,” said Singh.

Singh said that the accused juvenile’s bag and other items recovered from the spot linked to his presence at the crime scene. He claimed that police have seized the weapon of offence and wearing apparel so far. The scientific team has visited the place and important evidences are being collected from the spot.

He further revealed that police have found the pending tuition fee was around Rs 3000 to 5000. The juvenile will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, Bhubaneswar.

Meanwhile, the deceased’s father, Manoj Kumar Paltasingh rubbished the police claims regarding his asking for the pending tuition fees as the reason behind his son’s death.

“The juvenile, who hails from Nayagarh, used to stay at his uncle’s house here and is like a relative to me. I have never asked him to pay the pending tuition fees. Police claims are complete lies and absurd. I think he had done the crime by taking Supari (contract) from someone. I have not met him since 2022,” said Manoj.