Odisha: Prime Accused In Anjana Mishra Gangrape Case Nabbed After 22 Years

Bhubaneswar: The Twin City Commissionerate Police has arrested Bibekananda Biswal alias Biban, the prime accused in the high-profile Anjana Mishra gangrape case.

Briefing the media on Monday, Commissioner of Police (CP) Sudhanshu Sarangi said that Biban was nabbed from Aambi Valley at Lonavala near Mumbai.

The CP informed that an operation ‘Silent Viper’ was launched to trace Biban three months ago and a special team led by Badambadi police station IIC Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra left for Mumbai on February 19 to arrest him.

Sharing details of the operation, he said that Odisha police launched the operation along with Maharashtra police. “The cops got to know about a person named Jalandhar Swain, who worked in Aamby Valley as a plumber and stayed in staff quarters two-and-a-half km away,” he said.

Though Biban had changed his name, he mentioned Naranpur in Kendrapada as his permanent address. “When we initiated an inquiry, we found out that no such person stayed there. He, however, was in contact with his family members and had even asked them to get a death certificate in his name to avoid police detention in future,” Sarangi informed.

On seeking the police, he tried to flee but was nabbed and brought here, he said.

He added that witnesses have recognized him and he will be handed over to CBI, which is investigating the case.

Biban was nabbed 22 years after the incident, which had created a furore in Odisha with Anjana accusing former state Advocate General Indrajit Ray of molesting her and then orchestrating the gang rape.

Notably, Pradip Sahu alias Padia, a convict in the 1999 case, had died while undergoing treatment at Capital Hospital here in February 2020.

Also Read: Anjana Mishra Rapist Padia Dies Of Illness

CASE HISTORY

Anjana, the estranged wife of an Indian Forest Service officer, was waylaid by three persons near Baranga, about 15 km from Bhubaneswar on the intervening night of January 9-10 in 1999 while she was on her way to Cuttack along with a journalist-friend in a car.

The CBI, which was entrusted by the Orissa High Court to investigate the case, had maintained that the trio had raped her.

Padia was the first to be arrested in the case and Anjana identified him on January 15. In 2002, the Khurda District Sessions judge convicted him and Tuna Mohanty and sentenced them to life imprisonment. The High Court in 2010 had upheld the verdict.