4 min readBhubaneswarUpdated: Apr 23, 2026 07:18 PM IST
In the evening of April 15, 47-year-old businessman Sudhir Kumar Patra was returning home after taking part in a game of volleyball in Odisha’s Gopalpur when he was waylaid by a group of assailants, bundled into a vehicle, and whisked away.
A week later, police would recover his decomposed body on the side of a road that leads to a jungle under the Sorada police station in Ganjam district.
Investigators, who on Thursday arrested nine people over the abduction and murder, said they cracked the case by connecting the dots between an earlier untimely death in the family, the suspicion of black magic, business rivalry between two brothers, and a revenge plot.
After the abduction of Patra, a known real-estate businessman in Ganjam and nearby districts, his family got calls demanding a Rs 2 crore ransom. They agreed to pay, but the handover never happened.
Business and family ties unravel
It all started with a prolonged business dispute between Sudhir Kumar Patra and his brother, Manoj Kumar Patra, who died in June last year at the age of 49 due to illness, police said.
“As there was a dispute between the two brothers pertaining to real estate business, a financial dispute allegedly arose in the family. Manoj’s immediate family members were accusing Sudhir of causing the former’s untimely death by using black magic,” said the Ganjam SP Suvendu Patra.
As the animosity between the families developed, Manoj’s family members allegedly started looking for “revenge” against Sudhir, police said.
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The investigation led to Manoj’s 23-year-old daughter, Nibedita Patra. According to officers, she had been in close contact with one 28-year-old Kalu Charan Pradhan — a main accused in the case — for the last five years.
The SP said, “She was continuously expressing hostility towards her paternal uncle and instigated revenge. There was substantial communication between Nibedita and Kalu since January 1, which was proved during technical analysis. She also allegedly passed information regarding the victim’s financial status and movement.”
Police said Nibedita’s younger brother, 19-year-old Tushar, was also in regular touch with Kalu and had allegedly sought retaliation against Sudhir.
According to police, Kalu contacted other associates, including two accused with links to Surat in Gujarat, as well as others who had criminal antecedents. A conspiracy was hatched.
The kidnapping
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As per their plan, the assailants allegedly abducted Sudhir at 7pm on April 15, and took him away in a vehicle. They later changed the vehicle and eventually took him to Ramapada jungle under Buguda police limits, where he was allegedly assaulted with wooden planks. Shots were fired near him to scare him, and the entire process was videotaped, police alleged.
The accused then sent the video to the victim’s wife and demanded a Rs 2 crore ransom, an officer said, adding, “Though the family had arranged money and gone to the place mentioned by the kidnappers, the kidnappers did not turn up as the victim had already succumbed to his injuries early in the morning of April 16.” The officer said the accused then dumped the body by a road leading to a jungle and absconded to different locations.
Police said they took the help of the Surat Crime Branch to apprehend the accused, while some more accused remain absconding.
The Ganjam SP said police had focused their investigation on Nibedita and Tushar because it seemed like they were hiding something. They were among the nine arrested in the case.
