Odisha Bytes 10 Unanswered Questions That Could Unravel Odisha Forest Officer Death Mystery

Bhubaneswar: Is Paralakhemundi ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra’s death a plain case of accident that is being coloured as a possible murder? Or, is it a cold-blooded murder being given the impression of a mishap?

The ACF had succumbed to burns on Tuesday at a private hospital in Cuttack. He was rescued by his neighbours in a badly burnt state from his residence at Paralekhemundi. They had rushed to his house on hearing the screams of his wife around 9 pm on Monday.

With mystery shrouding his death, his family accused his wife Bidyabharati Panda of plotting his murder. She has, in turn, denied her involvement by describing it as an accident.

The statements of the family members and the deceased’s wife have thrown up several questions on the circumstances leading to his death and the possible equation between the couple.

Here follows the questions that Odisha Bytes believes if answered will help throw light on the plausible reasons causing Soumya’s death:

1. How Soumya caught fire? If his wife was in the kitchen readying the dinner table, what could be the source of fire in the bedroom?

2. How come Soumya did not scream if he caught fire accidentally?

3. Bidyabharati should have rushed on hearing his screams instead of seeing him on fire, as she has claimed, only after coming to the bedroom?

4. Did Soumya not try to take off his shirt, rush to the bathroom or wrap a blanket? Could Bidyabharati not intervene on time to douse the flames?

5. Did the bedroom not have an attached toilet or a toilet in close proximity?

6. Did Bidyabharati actually fall down in the bathroom as she has claimed and has she got injury marks to prove it?

7. Was her fall so severe that neighbours could reach Soumya hearing her screams before she could save her husband?

8. What do the neighbours have to say about the relationship between the couple? Was the couple really on good terms?

9. Do Soumya’s family have proof to substantiate their allegation that it was a pre-planned murder and can they establish that Bidyabharati was ‘torturing’ him?

10. Did Soumya ever tell his family, friends or colleagues about ‘problems’ in his marriage or the mental illness, as alleged by his family, of his wife? If they suspected Bidyabharati was mentally unstable, what steps had Soumya or his family taken to help her?

Also Read: ACF Soumya Death Mystery Deepens: Wife Tells Her Side Of The Story