Odisha: Ex-MLA Anup Sai sentenced to life in double murder case

Sai, a former MLA, was arrested in February 2020 for the alleged murder of a woman, Kalpana, and her minor daughter near Hamirpur forest in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district in 2016.

Biju Janata Dal MLA Anup Sai was awarded life imprisonment on Saturday

Former BJD leader Anup Sai was on Saturday sentenced to life imprisonment by a Chhattisgarh court in connection with the murder of a woman and her daughter. Burdhan Toppo, another accused who had worked as Sai’s driver, was acquitted in the case.

Sai, a former MLA, and Toppo were arrested in February 2020 for the alleged murder of a woman, Kalpana, and her minor daughter near Hamirpur forest in Chhattisgarh’s Raigarh district in 2016. The Chhattisgarh Police had interrogated 700 people across six states before arresting Sai.

According to police, Sai, who was purportedly in a relationship with Kalpana since 2011, had lived with her and her daughter in a three-storey building in Bhubaneswar as a family. He allegedly conspired to kill her when she insisted on marriage and demanded a share in his property.

In May 2016, as per police, Sai sent both the mother and daughter to Jharsuguda, and followed them in his own car along with his driver Toppo. From Jharsuguda, the four of them left for Raigarh in the same vehicle. Kalpana and her daughter were killed allegedly during this trip.

Police found evidence against the former MLA in 2017, and it took them three more years to arrest him.

Sai, who had been an MLA from Brajrajnagar constituency in Odisha, was denied a ticket during the 2019 elections. He was also expelled from the party after his arrest.

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