Mahanga double murder case: Pulled up by court, IIC finally submits updated case diary

Copies of statements of nine witnesses including the informant Ramakant Baral recorded under section 161 of CrPC were also included in the case diary submitted by Nihar Ranjan Mohanty.
Image used for representational purpose only. (Express Illustrations)
Image used for representational purpose only. (Express Illustrations)

CUTTACK: After dodging court directives over the Mahanga double murder case time and again, the IIC of Mahanga police station Nihar Ranjan Mohanty finally deposed before the Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Salepur, on Friday and submitted the up to date case diary.

This came after the Additional District Judge & Sessions Judge, Salepur, refused to entertain the revision petition of police. Copies of statements of nine witnesses including the informant Ramakant Baral recorded under section 161 of CrPC were also included in the case diary submitted by Mohanty. 

He intimated the court through a letter that as per the order of the court, he had called for call detail records (CDRs) of all accused persons and three other material persons including Minister Pratap Jena’s personal assistant Bapi Biswal, Mahanga block chairman Sarat Nayak and the deceased accused Prafulla Biswal through Cuttack SP (Rural) on November 20.

The CDRs along with certificate of the service providers which were availed from the SP office on December 6 have been preserved, said Mohanty in his intimation letter.

Earlier, the court of JMFC had ordered a fresh investigation into the brutal murder of BJP leader and former Mahanga block chairman Kulamani Baral and his associate Dibyasingha Baral on January 2 this year, after his son Ramakanta filed a petition challenging dropping of the name of Minister Pratap Jena from the chargesheet.

The court, had directed Mahanga IIC to collect and preserve CDRs of all accused persons and the three material persons for the period between December 2020 and February 2021 by obtaining certificate thereon as per section 65B of Indian Evidence Act and file a reinvestigation status report by November 25.

When the case was heard on November 25 and Mahanga IIC sought more time, the court expressed displeasure and directed him to take immediate steps to collect and preserve CDRs of all accused persons and submit an updated case diary of the reinvestigation by November 29.

When the case was put up, the IIC again pleaded for granting a month’s time to file the status report.
The court had again directed Mahanga IIC to appear before the court for hearing on his adjournment petition on December 3.

Instead of appearing personally, Mohanty had filed a criminal revision application in the court of Additional District Judge & Sessions Judge challenging the orders passed by JMFC court through a special public prosecutor engaged by the Law department. The court, however, refused to entertain the revision petition with remark that it was not maintainable as the orders passed by the JMFC were interlocutory.​

TIMELINE

  • Court asks IIC for reinvestigation report by Nov 25
  • IIC seeks more time on Nov 25, Court asks for updated case diary by Nov 29
  • On Nov 29, IIC again pleads for one-month’s time
  • He files criminal revision plea on Dec 3 but Court refuses to entertain it

Related Stories

No stories found.
The New Indian Express
www.newindianexpress.com