A young caretaker in a de-addiction centre at Naharkanata, on the outskirt of Bhubaneswar, was murdered by inmates on Tuesday.

On late hours of Monday, the victim identified as Sumit Behera, 28, was attacked by inmates as he denied permission to have a New Year pre-party.

A murder case has been registered against all the 36 inmates, DCP Satyabrata Bhoi said. Police have traced 7 of the accused and they were being interrogated to know the whereabouts of the others.

Some employees of the de-addiction centre tried to stop the inmates from attacking Behera, but to no avail. The inmates did not let them rescue Behera.

The inmates had been looking for an opportunity to escape and most of them were enrolled here 4-5 months ago. Perhaps they failed to adapt to a new life without alcohol and drugs, centre's chairman, Pritibardhan Pattnaik, said.