Man, transgender partner held for father’s murder in Odisha

BERHAMPUR: Baidyanathpur police on Saturday arrested a man and a transgender on charges of murdering the man’s father.

The victim, Garibabandhu Panda (67), of Ayodhyanagar, was brought to MKCG Medical College and Hospital on August 15 by his son, Sandeep Panda (44), but was declared dead on arrival.

According to ASI PK Behera, the doctors found multiple injury marks on Garibabandhu’s body, and informed the police. Following the registration of a case and an investigation involving a scientific team, it was suspected that Garibabandhu had been murdered.

Police arrested Sandeep Panda and Prabeen Kumar Sharma, also known as Shreya (42), a transgender woman originally from Shibaji Nagar, Thane in Maharashtra, who had been living with Sandeep in Ayodhyanagar.

Garibabandhu was a retired employee of the Revenue department and had been living with Sandeep and Shreya after his wife’s death. His daughter resides in the US. Sandeep, who is married and has a daughter, had been deserted by his wife due to his bad habits and was living separately. While working as a diploma engineer in a company in Mumbai, Sandeep met Prabeen, a transgender woman, and brought her to live with him in Berhampur, where they resided together as a couple along with Garibabandhu.

The duo, both alcoholics, often caused disturbances in the house. According to police, Shreya had been eyeing Garibabandhu’s property. On the night of August 14, a quarrel erupted between Shreya and Garibabandhu, during which Shreya allegedly strangled him and smashed his head against the wall. As Garibabandhu fell, Shreya reportedly threw an almirah on him, causing fatal injuries. Later, Sandeep and Shreya attempted to clean up the crime scene, keeping Garibabandhu’s body in the house overnight. The next morning, Sandeep called his sister, claiming their father had fallen and died.

However, when police arrived at the scene, they found blood stains on the walls, roof, and floor, along with freshly washed clothes, bed sheets, and a mosquito net inside the washing machine. Two blood-stained pillows were also found and seized for further investigation and chemical analysis.

Courtesy : TNIE

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