In a jolt to arrested Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda, the Supreme Court on Monday rejected his bail plea in the Nayagarh police station attack case.
Panda, who was arrested in July 2014, had moved the Orissa High Court in 2018 seeking bail in the case. However, the plea was squashed.
He had then moved the apex court challenging the High Court’s decision. Hearing Panda’s bail plea, a Bench of the Supreme Court comprising Justices NV Ramana and Deepak Gupta rejected it.
Though courts in Odisha have acquitted Panda in several other cases, the rejection of his bail plea by the apex court has diminished his chances of getting released from jail. Panda is lodged in the Brahmapur Central Jail.