Bhubaneswar: In a major development in Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra death case, his cook Manmath Kumbha was arrested by the police in Odisha’s Paralakhemundi.
According to sources, Kumbha was arrested from his native village in the early hours of Wednesday as police executed a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued by the court of the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM), Paralakhemundi.
Acting on reliable information about Kumbha’s presence in the village, a police team apprehended him. He was being produced before the SDJM court in Paralakhemundi for further legal action, police sources said.
Notably, the warrant was issued against Kumbha in connection with a case registered under Sections 302 and 120-B of the Indian Pena
The case dates back to July 11, 2021, when Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, then posted as ACF in Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district, suffered nearly 80 per cent burn injuries under mysterious circumstances at his official residence. He succumbed to burn injuries while undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kataka.
On July 14, 2021, Soumya Ranjan’s family lodged a complaint alleging that he had been murdered. The complaint named then Gajapati Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Behera, Soumya’s wife Bidya Bharati Panda and cook Manmath Kumbha as accused.
The Odisha government subsequently handed over the investigation in the cacse to the Crime Branch in August 2021.
