In a major development in the mysterious death case of Paralakhemundi Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, the Gajapati police on Saturday virtually gave a clean chit to Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Keshari Behera and said he was “faultless”.
Gajapati SP Tapan Patnaik said the DFO has no links with the ACF’s death or with his wife Bidyabharati Panda.
“During questioning, the DFO clarified that he has no connection with Bidyabharati. We have also analysed the Call Detail Records (CDR) of the DFO. As per the CDR analysis so far, we concluded that he has no link with Bidyabharati. He has no link with the ACF’s cook Manmath Kumbh either,” said Patnaik.
Clarifying on the abrupt stopping of the ambulance that carried a half charred Saumya to hospital, Patnaik said, “The ambulance had stopped for 15 minutes at the forest gate, because Bidyabharati had not carried cash nor any other belongings with her while accompanying her husband in the ambulance. Therefore, she stopped there and took cash other thing from the woman police officer’s house.”
Notably, the DFO was one of the three accused named in the murder case filed in connection with the officer’s death, the other two being Bidyabharat and his cook.
Asked about the exact cause of death of the ACF, the SP said, “There is need for more investigation about the cause of death. I will speak on it after the probe is completed.”
However, the SP said Bidyabharati would be quizzed again in connection with the case. Source said that a five-member police team would visit a college in Balangir district, where Bidyabharati was studying, for a probe. The team would investigate under what circumstances she had been to Balangir after her marriage.
During the probe, it was revealed that Bidyabharati had hosted a party in Balangir post her marriage. The investigators would find out in which vehicle she had visited the venue for celebration.