Odisha's Bittihotra Mohanti, who was on run after being convicted in the rape of a 26-year-old German woman at a hotel in Rajasthan, was arrested and taken to custody by the Kerala Police at Kannur.
Bittihotra, only son of former DGP -rank officer Bidya Bhusan Mohanti, was working at the State Bank of Travancore at Kannaur after furnishing a false identity. While applying for the job, he had introduced himself as Raghav Ranjan of Andhra Pradesh. His real identity was revealed during police interrogation.
The police had been tipped off about the presence of Bitti at Kannur after an anonymous letter was received by the bank's branch authorities expressing suspicion that the man claiming to be from Andhra Pradesh could be Bitti. The person who wrote the letter to the bank authorities identified Bittihotra from the pictures of sex criminals recently released to televisions and placed in internet in the wake of the sensational Delhi gangrape incident.
Bitti was convicted for raping the German girl at Alwar in Rajasthan in 2006 and had been absconding after his release on parole in December in the same year.
The Kerala Police has intimated their Rajasthan counterparts about the development. A team of Rajasthan Police officers is expected to take Bitti to their remand after identifying him.
Meanwhile, Bitti's father BB Mohanti is incommunicado since Saturday morning. While caretakers in his house at Sector 9 of Abhinav Bidanasi in Cuttack maintained that he had left the house in the wee hours of the day, his cell phone number 9439968115 was found switched off throughout the day. The relatives of the former DGP are also unable to say anything about his present whereabouts. It may be noted that the Rajasthan police had lodged a criminal case against BB Mohanti as he had executed the parole bond for Bitti. A Jaipur court also issued attachment of property proceedings against BB Mohanti as he failed to honour the surety bond of Rs 50,000 furnished by him to bring Bitti on parole. BB Mohanti was suspended from the Odisha Police for allegedly helping his son jump parole, but he was reinstated by the State Government in May 2009. BB Mohanti had refuted the charges against his son, claiming that Bitti's physical relationship with the German girl was based on mutual consent of both and there was no question of Bitti raping the girl.
"I feel my son has been trapped and has been made to suffer due to vindictive attitude of the foreign national. Prior to the incident the duo had been staying together and moving around with full consent of the foreign national," BB Mohanti had said.
BB Mohanti has, meanwhile, retired from service as the DGP, Home Guard & Fire Services. He was entitled to all benefits as he claimed that his son was an adult and, therefore, he should not be punished for Bitti's fault.