Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Monday granted conditional bail to Akshaya Behera alias Chagala in the sensational murder of well-known judo coach Biranchi Das.
A division bench of Chief Justice S Muralidhar and Justice BP Routray directed the lower court to decide on the bail condition of the accused.
Arguing on behalf of Chagala, his counsel Amit Prasad Bose told the court to grant bail to his client as he has already served a 13-year jail term.
It may be recalled that Biranchi was shot dead in front of his institute in Bhubaneswar by gangster Raja Acharya and his associate Chagala in the evening of the Pana Sankranti festival on April 13, 2008.
While Chagala was arrested on April 29, 2008, Raja was arrested after he surrendered before the police at Panaji in Goa on May 28, 2008. The Bhubaneswar District and Sessions Court convicted the duo in the case and sentenced them to life imprisonment.
However, Raja had petitioned the High Court challenging the lower court’s verdict. Since the matter did not come up for hearing in the High Court, Raja had moved the Supreme Court which granted him bail on March 10, 2017.
