'I apprehended threat from father-son duo'

BHUBANESWAR: Chemist Sneha Swakhyar Samal, who allegedly killed Atulya Chandra Meher for prescribing costly tests for his daughter, told police that he eliminated Prasanta Behera and his son Minu when they refused to fetch sweets for him from the market.
Samal wanted to send them away so that he could easily target the doctor. Quoting him, a police officer said: "I first encountered Behera's wife Runu and asked her to allow me to meet the doctor.She asked me to wait in the doctor's chamber and went upstairs to call him. I asked her whether her husband was around. She said yes and I saw their son too. Apprehending threat from them, I requested the father-son duo to go out and bring some sweets for the doctor's family.
"When they refused, I got angry. They stood near me. I apprehended they would resist if I attacked the doctor. I first stabbed Behera, then his son and later his wife," he was quoted as saying.
Police said Meher had no inkling that he was the prime target. "Hearing the screams, the doctor came down and saw the three persons in pools of blood. He thought Samal attacked them for some personal reason," another police officer said.
Footages of the CCTV cameras, installed at the doctor's house shows the doctor shaking hands with Samal. "Since the accused had consulted Meher on October 3 and 9 for his daughter's leg pain, the doctor identified him and shook hand. But he did not know Samal held a grudge against him for prescribing expensive tests for his daughter," the officer said.
The accused told police that the doctor had invited him to his house. "In my previous two meetings with the doctor, I was upset and argued with him for unnecessarily prescribing costly tests of my daughter as the reports were normal. Later, I managed to win the trust of the doctor, who sought my assistance to open a clinic near his house. He invited me to his house for a discussion," Samal told police.
Police said Samal argued with the doctor for nearly two minutes before killing him. Immediately after shaking hands, he grabbing Meher by the neck and chided him for fleecing him. Though the doctor and his family sought mercy, he did not pay any heed, police added.