Jajpur PEO Death: Odisha Police Arrests Sarpanch’s Husband

Jajpur: Three days after the mysterious death of Smitarani Biswal, the Panchayat Extension Officer (PEO) of Haridaspur of Dharmasala block in Odisha’s Jajpur district, inside the toilet of a guest house, the Dharmasala Town police on Saturday arrested Rupesh Bhadra, husband of the sarpanch of Haridaspur panchayat.

Police later produced Rupesh in the court at Ragadi and later remanded him to the jail after rejecting his bail plea.

Briefing mediapersons in the afternoon, Jajpur SP Charan Singh Meena said the post mortem report reveals that asphyxia was the cause of death. There were no injury marks on any part of the body.

“During preliminary investigation, the police has come to know that the deceased had a long-time relationship with Rupesh Bhadra. However, the duo had some differences in the last few days,” the SP added.

Asked whether the death of the PEO was due to suicide or she was murdered, the SP said the police have begun an investigation.

Expressing resentment over the statement of the SP, Sadanand Biswal, the father of the deceased, told the media that his daughter could not have committed suicide as she was a headstrong girl.

He said while the SP has said that there were five persons in the guesthouse at the time of his daughter’s death, why did the police arrest Rupesh and let off the other five persons? Why did these five persons not restrain my daughter from taking the extreme step? I am not satisfied with the statement of the police. Let there be a CBI probe into the incident,” he demanded.

Following the SP’s statement, the Opposition BJP and the Congress said that the state government is trying to hush up the case.

“How come the SP came to know that Smitarani had an illicit relationship with Rupesh? Had he seen it? The SP is advocating for Rupesh Bhadra through a one-sided investigation. We want to ask the SP that whether he is aware of the CCTV cameras from the guesthouse of Rupesh which have been removed after the incident. From his statement, it now seems that he is under political pressure. Let the SP not try to let off the accused. We demand the state government to immediately order a CBI probe into the incident failing which, the BJP will intensify its agitation across the state,” BJP state general secretary Leshasri Samantsinghar told mediapersons in Bhubaneswar.

Meanwhile, protesting the lop-sided investigation of the police into the incident, the Jajpur district BJP unit president Goutam Ray announced a 12-hour Jajpur bandh on October 21.

Apart from the BJP, the fact-finding team of the Congress after a visit to Jajpur, submitted a memorandum to the State Commission for Women and the Odisha Human Rights Commission.

At a press briefing at the Congress Bhawan, chairman of the PCC Media Cell Satya Prakash Nayak said the press meet of the Jajpur SP speaks volume of the attempt by the police to hush up the case. “In a bid to stop the investigation, the SP has come up with a sensational triangular love story. Does the police have any details about the persons who had gone to the guesthouse on that day? Has it brought the CEO of Ramco Cement, who has taken the guesthouse on rent, into the purview of its investigation? The Pradesh Congress Committee strongly condemns the haphazard statement of the SP and the action of the police,” he pointed out.

Reacting to the statement of the Opposition, the BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said the death of the PEO is a highly sensitive case. “The police are probing into the incident and will come up with details. The Opposition parties instead of trying to politicize the incident, should wait patiently for the final investigation report,” he pointed out.

The incident had taken place on October 16 when Smitarani had gone to Rupesh’s guesthouse at about 1 pm after disbursing stipend to the beneficiaries in Baligari village. Later, her body was found hanging from the ceiling of the toilet. Rupesh informed that he broke the toilet door and took Smitarani’s body to the government hospital at Dharmasala.