In a major development that could cost Barabati-Cuttack MlA Debasis Samantray a lot in the alleged mowing down of an OUAT girl student to death by a car allegedly being driven by his son, an eyewitness on Wednesday claimed that the person who has been arrested is not the driver of the car on the last fateful Saturday night.
In a startling revelation, the eyewitness said there were two hefty persons in the car at the time of the accident whereas the arrested person had told police that he was the only person in the vehicle, raising suspicions.
“The person, who has been arrested, is not the man who was driving the car. Two persons were in the car. I chased the car till Siripur Chhak but in vain. Though I didn’t see them clearly, both were fat persons unlike the arrested one,” the eyewitness told reporters.
Meanwhile, deceased Suchismita Biswal’s father who had come to take the belongings of his daughter from the hostel said he strongly suspected that a mystery shrouds the case.
Suchismita, who was pursuing her Master of Computer Application (MCA) under the Centre for Post-Graduate Studies (CPGS) at the OUAT, died after being hit by the Tata Safari SUV on the Siripur-Fire Station road on February 4 night.
One of her friends, Pragyna Tiwari, sustained critical injuries in the accident.
While police seized the vehicle, the driver had managed to flee the spot.
The Khandagiri police had on Tuesday arrested Maheswar Behera, driver of former Speaker of Odisha Assembly Kishore Mohanty. Behera hails from Badamba in Cuttack district.
The vehicle is in the name of the Siddhartha Construction owned by MlA Samantray though it was sold out to Kishore Mohanty in 2009.