Bhubaneswar : In a breakthrough statement, Berhampur Superintendent of Police (SP) Saravana Vivek M said the murder of senior advocate and BJP leader Pitabash Panda was not a random act but a calculated hit driven by a mix of political rivalry and personal vendetta.

According to Berhampur SP, the investigation uncovered the hand of ex‑Mayor Siba Shankar Das, aka Pintu Das. Pintu’s aide, Shanti Mishra, had been murdered in 2013. As many as 13 persons were held in this connection. Pitabash Panda was representing the accused in that case. Ex‑Mayor blamed Pitabash Panda for getting the main accused in the 2013 murder of his aide, Shanti Mishra, released on bail. Besides, Pintu had already filed an attempt‑to‑murder case against Pitabash Panda accusing the latter of trying to kill him by open

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