Odisha Police Record Dying Declaration Of Forest Officer

Paralakhemundi: The Town Police of Paralakhemundi in Gajapati district have begun an investigation into the death of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, who succumbed to severe burn injuries at a private hospital in Cuttack on Tuesday morning.

While the Town Police have recorded the dying declaration of Mohapatra in the presence of the local magistrate, Markata Nagar Police in Cuttack city have registered a case of unnatural death.

On Tuesday, the Cuttack Commissionerate Police had handed over the body of the ACF to the family members in the afternoon after conducting the postmortem at the SCB Medical College and Hospital.

According to sources, his body was taken to the paternal village in Khaira block in Balasore district for cremation. As his family members did not allow ACF’s wife Bidya Bharati Panda, who they suspected to have played a role in his death, to accompany them, she left for her paternal house at Udala in Mayurbhanj district.

Bidyashree had earlier dodged questions from the media.

While refusing to divulge the dying declaration of the ACF to the media, Police said that the exact cause of the death will be known from the postmortem report.

Abhiram Mohapatra, the father of the deceased, on Tuesday, had cried foul over his death. The ACF’s uncle Sitikanta Panda told the media that his nephew visited his native village during Raja festival in June this year and had informed his family members about the misunderstanding with his wife.

A 2018-batch officer of the Odisha Forest Service (OFS), Mohapatra was posted as the ACF in Gajapati district in 2020 after completion of two-year training.

His marriage was solemnized with Bidya Bharati on January 1 this year and the couple had since been staying at the forest quarters in Paralakhemundi.

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