Cuttack: The Orissa High Court on Wednesday rejected the plea of Shraddhanjali Behera, aide of alleged honeytrap and blackmailing racket mastermind Archana Nag, to appear through her counsel at the designated CBI court in Bhubaneswar.
Rejecting the petition filed by Shraddhanjali to appear through her counsel, the High Court asked her to depose before the CBI court in Bhubaneswar in person.
It may be recalled that CBI court in Bhubaneswar had in May, this year issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against Shraddhanjali in connection with the sensational case relating to honeytrap and blackmailing racket.
Though the court had issued several summons to Shraddhanjali to appear before it in connection with the honeytrap network of Archana Nag, she had failed to turn up for hearing on medical grounds. Her plea to appear through counsel was also rejected by the lower court.
Since Shraddhanjali did not appear, the court issued the NBW against her. The court had fixed June 3 as the date of the next hearing of the case.
Earlier, the Orissa High Court had rejected the advance bail application of Shraddhanjali, whose name figures in the chargesheet filed by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Buhubaneswar sessions court. The ED chargesheet has named Archana her husband Jagabandhu Chand and associate Khageswar Patra.
It may be noted that Archana was arrested on October 6 last year as the alleged honey-trap network surfaced after Shradhanjali lodged a complaint with Khandagiri police station on October 2. She accused Archana, her husband Jagabandhu Chand and their associate Khageswar Patra of trapping her in their racket, forcing her into prostitution and to blackmail bigwigs.
