Brahmapur: A court here Monday remanded Bidya Bharati Panda, one of the accused in the alleged murder of her husband and forest officer Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, to judicial custody till November 13.
The Orissa High Court had earlier declined to grant interim protection from arrest to Panda. She surrendered before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) court in the morning.
Later, she filed a bail petition in the court. “The court rejected her bail and sent her to judicial custody until November 13,” said Rajesh Kumar Mishra, the court’s public prosecutor.
With Panda’s surrender, all three accused persons in connection with Mohapatra’s death are now in judicial custody, said Mishra.
Sisir Kumar Jena, Panda’s advocate, said they would file a bail application in the district and sessions court in Paralakhemundi after receiving the court’s rejection documents.
Sangram Keshari Behera, the then divisional forest officer (DFO) and family cook Manmath Kumbh were arrested earlier and are now in judicial custody following the rejection of their bail pleas.
Behera surrendered before the court July 28, while police arrested Kumbha on September 30 from his village Karadasingh.
Police registered a case against Behera, Panda and Kumbha after the deceased’s father, Abhiram Mohapatra, lodged an FIR at the Paralakhemundi police station July 14, 2021, accusing the trio of being responsible for his son’s death.
Mohapatra, Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF), Paralakhemundi, suffered burn injuries at his residence in Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district July 11, 2021, and died the following day.
His father alleged the incident was not an accident, but a murder. Behera and Kumbha had hatched a conspiracy, while Panda allegedly set fire to his son.
The case was initially investigated by the Crime Branch under Sections 285 (negligence in fire incident) and 304-A (death by negligence) of the IPC.
The Paralakhemundi Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate subsequently took cognisance of offences under Sections 302 (murder) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) on a complaint filed by Mohapatra’s father.
Orissa POST – Odisha’s No.1 English Daily
