Berhampur: Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, who is lodged in a prison in Odisha’s Berhampur, has cleared a Master’s in Sociology from IGNOU, officials said Monday.
While the Maoist leader had cleared the first year of the course in June last year, he appeared for the second year exam in December-January at a special centre set up in the circle jail. Panda cleared the exam, the results of which were recently published by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), they said.
Panda, along with another convict, had appeared for the second year examinations. While Panda passed the exams, the other inmate cleared only three of the four papers, a prison official said.
The Maoist leader had also enrolled in the MA (Public Administration) course under the Odisha State Open University (OSOU) last year. While he cleared some of the papers in the first year exams, he will appear for the second year exam along with the first year back papers this time, he said.
Panda had completed his graduation through correspondence from IGNOU in December 2022, while being lodged in jail.
He was allegedly involved in over 130 Maoist-related cases in different districts and was arrested by a police team from a house in the Bada Bazar area of Berhampur on July 18, 2014. He was lodged in the Berhampur circle jail here since then, the official said.
While he was acquitted in several cases, a local court here sentenced him to undergo life imprisonment on the charge of waging war against the nation, he said.
In jail, he has shown interest to pursue higher studies and enrolled in MA after completing his graduation in distance courses in two different universities.
The IGNOU and OSOU have opened their centers in the circle jail, which helped Panda and other inmates to pursue their higher studies, senior superintendent of the prison, D N Barik, said.
After their enrollment, they prepared for the exam through self studies, while the jail authorities provided logistic support, he said.
Sanatan Khillar, a jail teacher, said a total of 92 students have enrolled in class 10 (38) and class 12 (58) exams in the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS).
PTI
