The counsels of State Student Congress president Itish Pradhan andniakhunta.com proprietor Pradeep Pandey on Saturday said the defamation suit filed by BJD leader and BMC Mayor Ananta Narayan Jena against their clients is part of a larger conspiracy intended to dilute the suspicious death of engineering student Asutosh alias Rishi Mohanty.
After arguing in the court of the Civil Judge Senior Division here, Pradhan’s lawyer Sivananda Ray told reporters, “The Mayor has repeatedly lied in this case. If he didn’t know Rishi and wasn’t involved in the murder, why he was present at the Capital Hospital during the postmortem for four long hours and tried to influence the postmortem report,” he added.
“Initially, the Mayor ‘clarified’ that one of the persons in the sex video has a big stomach. And he also has no such a (protruded) belly. Then on what ground the Mayor’s image was tarnished and he filed the caseIJ Hence, this is a clear attempt of diverting the murder case,” said Ray, adding that the Mayor tried very hard to protect himself after the murder and used his influence to tamper the evidence.
Along with Itish Pradhan, proprietor of niakhunta.com Pradeep Pandey and three Odia news channels also deposed before the court.
Pandey’s lawyer Ashok Mahapatra also expressed similar concerns as Ray did before the court.
“We never tried to defame the Mayor. We didn’t even use his name. Our contention is that Rishi’s death is a coldblooded murder. And those who don’t want the investigation to continue have filed this suit.”
On the contrary, the Mayor’s lawyer S Dwivedi claimed that the controversial video was false and fabricated.
The court after hearing the arguments posted January 9 as the next date of hearing.