Berhampur: Police Thursday arrested another suspect in the murder case of BJP leader and senior advocate Pitabas Panda. The accused has been identified as Sunil Hota, 52, the owner of a farmhouse in Jeypore of Koraput district.
According to investigators, after Panda was shot dead, accused Kurupati Bhuyan and Uma Bisoi fled to Jeypore, where Hota allegedly sheltered them at his farmhouse. Following his arrest, Hota was produced in the court and later remanded to Berhampur Jail Thursday. Meanwhile, another accused, Sudarsan Jena, surrendered before the police Thursday.
Jena, an associate of former MLA Bikram Panda, is alleged to have financed the killing, police said. He is currently in custody and being interrogated. So far, police have arrested 13 people in connection with the murder, including former MLA and BJD’s district president Bikram Panda, former Berhampur Mayor Siba Shankar Das alias Pintu, Ward 41 Corporator Malaya Bisoi, and BJD leader Madan Dalai. Bikram, Malaya and Madan filed bail petitions through their lawyers in the court of the SDJM, Berhampur Thursday. Sources said other accused are also likely to seek bail in the coming days.
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