DEOGARHBALASORE: With police still in the dark about the circumstances that led to the death of TV serial actor Ranjit Pattnaik alias Raja (38), they have pinned their hopes on polygraph test of the suspects to unravel the mystery.
Balasore SP Niti Sekhar, who is supervising the case, said on Monday programme coordinator Pralay Jena, car driver Dhaneswar Behera and Pralipta Priyadarshini Samal alias Jessy have given their consent for the test.
Accordingly, Balasore police has written to the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) seeking availability of the laboratory for the polygraph test. “We are waiting for a communication from the laboratory authorities,” he added.
On Saturday, a Special Investigating Team (SIT), comprising six personnel, grilled Jessy, Jena and Behera to find out what happened on the fateful night. So far, three rounds of interrogation by separate teams have been conducted. Though preliminary investigations indicate it could be an accident, discrepancy in their statements has puzzled the police. Meanwhile, police have seized three rings, one gold chain, two ATM cards, a PAN card and wallet of Raja from Jessy besides Rs 11,000 cash from Pralay.
They had handed over those to police during interrogation. According to Pralay, Raja had Rs 14,000 with him on that day and they spent Rs 3,000 on his treatment.
While the autopsy report confirmed that Raja’s death was due to excess bleeding and liver damage, during interrogation, Jessy, who denied her affair with the actor, had told the police that Raja’s death was neither a murder nor a suicide. It was an accident.
Raja and the three suspects were returning home from an opera show at Taranga in Khaira area of Balasore district on February 7 when the incident took place.