Web Series ‘Barang 1999’: Anjana Mishra Says She Is Shocked, Warns Of Legal Action

Bhubaneswar: With OTT platform Kanccha Lannka announcing a web series ‘Barang 1999’ based on the sensational gang-rape case involving the estranged wife of an IFS officer that led to the resignation of then Odisha Chief Minister J B Patnaik, the survivor, Anjana Mishra, on Monday warned the creators against going ahead with the shoot.

Speaking to the media, Anjana said she had no prior information about the project being made on her life. “I read about the web series in a newspaper and it came as a shock to me. They neither held any discussion with me nor sought my permission. I have serious reservations and warn them against going ahead with the project. Or else, I will be forced to move court,” she said.

Responding to it, filmmaker Akshaya Parija said they will not be painting anyone as a protagonist or an antagonist in the web series. “It is an original story and the audience would be able to relate to it. The power of police and judiciary and the faith of people in them will be showcased in the web series,” he said.

“Let it first be made and then you can have an opinion about it,” he added.

According to sources, the web series, written by Saroj Mahapatra and conceptualized by Dilip Bisoi, will delve into the struggle of Anjana Mishra after the incident, the political scenario of the state during the period and people’s reaction to the incident.

Comprises nine episodes, the web series will be shot at the incident spot to lend it a realistic touch. The series, ‘A woman’s fight changed Odisha politics forever’ is slated for March 2023 release.

“Our intention is not to target any political party or individual. The content is being prepared based on information received from court and police station,” director Ajay Padhi was quoted as saying.

After 22 years of the incident, the main accused, Bibekananda Biswal, was arrested in Maharashtra in February this year. He along with Pradeep Sahu and Dhirendra Mohanty was accused of raping Anjana at Baranga in Cuttack district on the night of January 9, 1999, while she was returning to Bhubaneswar accompanied by a journalist friend and her driver.

While Sahu and Mohanty were arrested in the days following the incident and handed life imprisonment in 2002, Biswal had been on the run. The incident led to a public outcry over the breakdown of law and order in the state and saw the downfall of Congress’ government.

Anjana, who had lodged a molestation case against Indrajit Ray, a former advocate general, a few weeks before the alleged gang rape, had accused him and J B Patnaik of having orchestrated the sexual assault on her.