Odisha minor student murder: Eight arrested, three juveniles apprehended

Bhubaneswar, Dec 17 (IANS) The Commissionerate Police have apprehended three juveniles in connection with the murder of a minor student of the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), a residential tribal school in Bhubaneswar, Police Commissioner S. Dev Datta Singh said on Wednesday.

Speaking to media persons, Singh further said that the police have also arrested eight KISS employees on charges of threatening witnesses to prevent them from revealing details of the incident, destruction of evidence, harbouring the accused, and other related offences.

The arrested KISS employees include Additional CEO Pramod Kumar Patra (50), Senior Academic Coordinator Prasanna Kumar Malla (54), Headmaster of KISS Secondary School Rashmiranjan Nayak (45), Supervisor of KISS Boys’ Hostel Subhakanta Behera (32), among others.

The Police Commissioner stated that the family members of the minor student, who died on December 12, lodged a complaint with the Keonjhar police alleging murder. Subsequently, the Keonjhar police registered a Zero FIR and transferred the case to the Infocity Police Station in Bhubaneswar.

In his complaint, the victim’s father stated that KISS authorities had informed him over the phone that his son had been admitted to KIMS Medical College for treatment.

However, upon reaching KIMS in Bhubaneswar, he was informed by doctors that his son had already been declared dead. After noticing injury marks on his son’s neck, the father suspected foul play and negligence on the part of the KISS authorities and reported the matter to the police.

Singh said that Infocity Police launched an investigation by registering a case (No. 656/25) under Section 106(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act, 2015.

The post-mortem report received by the Infocity Police on Tuesday revealed external injuries on the neck, indicating compression with a rough and hard ligature material.

“Classmates and hostel mates of the deceased revealed that three Children in Conflict with Law (CCLs), who are students of KISS, were involved in the incident. The CCLs confessed to beating, throttling, and strangulating the deceased on the night of December 11, 2025, after he refused to give them a bucket in the toilet block,” Commissionerate Police sources said.

The three juveniles were produced before the Juvenile Justice Board on Wednesday.

Meanwhile, during the investigation, police also found that KISS authorities, including teachers and staff, had intimidated and threatened minor students to conceal the crime.

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