CUTTACK: The unsolved mystery of the death of Paralakhemundi ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra reached the Orissa High Court on Monday with the filing of a criminal miscellaneous petition (CRLMP) seeking transfer of the ongoing investigation to the CBI or a Court-monitored Special Investigation Team (SIT).
Soumya’s 70-yr-old father Abhiram Mohapatra filed the petition through advocate Partha Sarathi Nayak to ensure free, fair, transparent and unbiased probe in the case. The ACF had died under mysterious circumstances on July 13.
The State CID-Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, has already conducted the polygraph test of Soumya’s wife Bidyabharati, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO), Paralakhemundi, Sangram Keshari Behera and cook Manmath Kumbha who were named in the FIR. But the CID-Crime Branch has made no breakthrough in the case so far.
In his petition, Abhiram has alleged that the ongoing investigation has been perfunctory in nature. “It has raised more questions than answers and is tainted, biased and heavily leans in favour of the accused persons. If it is carried on in this manner then the truth will never come out and will forever remain shrouded in mystery,” the petition alleged.
Letters were written by the deceased’s father to the Chief Secretary, Home department, DGP, to transfer the case to CBI but it yielded no result, the petition added. The Additional Secretary of Home department, Director General of Police, Additional Director General of Police CID-Crime Branch and Director CBI have been named as opposite parties in the CRLMP.
Earlier, a PIL seeking direction for a CBI probe into the ACF’s death was also filed by Berhampur-based Bharatiya Bikash Parishad. The petition has not been taken up for hearing so far.