Jashobant Parida, the Dhenkanal district youth wing president of the ruling BJD, was shot dead by unidentified assailants here on Monday. Parida, a close aide of Steel Minister Prafulla Mallik, sustained bullet injuries on his head and was rushed to the SCB Hospital in Cuttack where doctors declared him brought dead.
It is a pre-planned murder as the assailants were following Parida in a car before waylaying him. The miscreants intercepted Parida while he was returning home and started firing.
He tried to escape but they hurled crude bombs at his vehicle and as he got down they shot at him, said the police. The police said it has specific leads and identified the vehicle used by the assailants.
A manhunt has been launched, said the police. Police sources said Parida was going driving his car when the assailants followed him in a vehicle and hurled bombs. Parida got down to run to safety but was shot dead.
Superintendent of police Santosh Nayak said it was a planned murder as the assailants had followed Parida and used a stolen car which they later abandoned and fled. Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik met Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik requesting for a thorough probe.
While admitting that Parida was close to him, the Minister said it was not a political murder. Parida is a counsellor of Kamakshyanagar NAC while his brother Dharmananda Parida is now the chairman of the NAC.
He is a businessman and involved in diverse social activities. Locals suspect business rivalry as the motive behind the crime. Parida had escaped an attack on him in 2014.
Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallik, Transport and Commerce Minister Nrushing Sahoo and several BJD leaders reached Kamakas-hyanagar to attend the funeral.