An old man, who has already spent over 30 years in jail for attacking a judge, police and courts several times, was arrested by the Commissionerate Police on Monday for hurling powerful firecrackers at a court room of the CBI inside the premises of court of the District and Sessions Judge here.
According to Twin City Police Commissioner RP Sharma, the incident happened at around 1.30 pm. Upendra Mohanty (63) alias Netaji, who was staying inside the court premises for last three years, entered the court room of the CBI Special judge and threw three bombs (improved version of powerful firecrackers) one by one near the table of the judge. Fortunately, the judge was out of the court room at that time when the blast took place and nobody was injured in the incident, he added.
Hearing the sudden explosion, lawyers rushed to the court room and nabbed the old man from the spot. After getting information about the incident, ACP Dillip Das with other police officials rushed to the spot and started an investigation into the matter following the arrest of Mohanty.
“We are investigating into the case to find the motive of the old man behind the blast,” said Sharma, adding, “Whether the old man exploded the firecrackers motivated by any ideology or due to mental disorder can be ascertained after the medical inquiry.”
Mohanty belongs to Sarangpur village under Bari block in Jajpur district. He had attacked Judge Ajit Patnaik in 1987 for which he spent seven years in Jharpada jail. later, he had hurled a bomb in front of the Supreme Court premises in New Delhi and got 10 years of rigorous imprisonment at the Tihar Jail. He had also attacked Sub-Inspector MK Manik of Jatni police station in the premises of District and Sessions Court here. He also created nuisance in a court, the present one being for the fourth time, sources said.
Bhubaneswar Bar Association president Santosh Kumar Choudhury demanded that the State Government give adequate security inside the court premises to avoid any untoward incident. Sharma said that metal detector and CCTV cameras will be installed in the entrance of the court to keep vigil on the mischief mongers. Security personnel will be deployed in the campus, he added.
After the incident, two platoons of police force were deployed in the court campus, said the police sources. The Commissionerate Police may conduct psychoanalysis test to unearth actual reason of Mohanty’s handiwork, said the sources.