Kataka: In a significant legal development inthe mysterious death of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, the Orissa High Court has declined to grant interim protection from arrest to his widow, Bidya Bharati Panda.
Hearing her anticipatory bail application, the court directed the investigating agency to produce the case diary and scheduled the next hearing for the first week following the court vacation.
The petitioner had approached the High Court seeking pre-arrest protection after exhausting prior legal avenues.
Earlier, she had challenged the criminal proceedings initiated against her in connection with her husband’s death. However, the High Court refused to quash the proceedings or grant relief from arrest. Subsequent appeals before the Supreme Court yielded a similar outcome, as the apex court dismissed her petition challenging the High Court’s ruling.
The case traces back to July 11, 2021, when Mohapatra, then posted as ACF at Paralakhemundi in Odisha’s Gajapati district, sustained nearly 80 per cent burn injuries under highly suspicious circumstances at his official residence. Although he was rushed to a medical facility in Kataka for intensive treatment, he later succumbed to his injuries.
Following his death, the deceased officer’s family lodged a police complaint on July 14, 2021, alleging murder. The complaint named three individuals as accused: Bidya Bharati, the then Gajapati Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Keshari Behera, and cook Manmath Kumbha. Due to the sensitive nature of the allegations involving public officers, the Odisha government officially handed over the probe to the Crime Branch in August 2021.
