Berhampur: A Test Identification (TI) parade of all 16 accused arrested in connection with the murder of senior lawyer and BJP leader Pitabas Panda is likely to be conducted inside the Berhampur Circle Jail.
According to information, decks were cleared for the TI parade following the direction of the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM).
Notably, the prosecutors had earlier sought a TI parade of the 16 accused. Under the Court’s direction, jail authorities and investigating officers have been asked to facilitate the identification process under supervision of a magistrate.
During the TI parade, witnesses are allowed to attempt identification of suspects from a group of similarly appearing persons. and will be recorded as part of the probe file.
The TI parade will be conducted under the supervision of a magistrate to ensure procedural fairness, with police and prosecution personnel present to observe and record witness responses.
Investigating officers have prepared the required documentation and have coordinated with jail authorities to arrange the logistics inside the Berhampur Circle Jail, as per the Court’s order.
The identification exercise comes after the family of the slain advocate reported fresh death threats last week. Slain advocate Pitabas Panda’s wife had complained that her family received multiple threatening calls that mentioned the name of prime accused, Bikram Panda, and urged them to withdraw a pending legal case.
Following the complaint, Berhampur Police placed the Panda family under security cover and deployed plainclothes personnel near the residence.
Notably, police earlier carried out a reconstruction of the murder, which had taken place on October 6 outside the house of Panda in Berhampur. Two alleged shooters, Kurupati and Chintu, reenacted the sequence of events before investigators and forensic teams to assist verification of bullet trajectories and timelines.