BERHAMPUR/BHUBANESWAR: Seventeen days after senior advocate and BJP leader Pitabasa Panda was shot dead, police on Wednesday charged two prominent BJD leaders - former MLA of Berhampur Bikram Panda and ex-mayor Siba Shankar Dash - with murder, claiming it to be a killing over years of simmering political, financial and personal conflicts.
A total of 12 people were arrested for the sensational October 6 murder in Berhampur, close to the BJP leader’s house. All the accused were produced before a local court which remanded them to judicial custody for 14 days. As police made the revelations, security was beefed up across Berhampur.
Currently, Bikram serves as BJD’s Ganjam district president. Another accused, Malaya Kumar Bisoyi is a sitting BJD corporator of Berhampur Municipal Corporation (BeMC).
Addressing mediapersons, Berhampur SP Saravana Vivek M said that both Bikram and Siba Shankar conspired together to eliminate Pitabasa over years of hostility. Interestingly, Pitabasa and Bikram happened to be close friends since college days. The other accused in the case included Madan Mohan Dalei, Jogendra Raut, Kalucharan Bhuyan, Simanchala Naik, Rajendra Kumar Sahu, Bipin Swain, Chintu Pradhan along with Sishupal Kumar Paswan and Kundan Kumar.
The SP said Malaya and Madan are old associates of Bikram and helped him with the murder plan. Chintu and Kurupatti Bhuyan who gunned down Pitabasa were promised Rs 50 lakh for the contract. Kurupatti continues to be at large.
Sarvana claimed that Bikram and Pitabasa had a rift when the former MLA switched from Congress to BJD in 2018 but the BJP leader did not follow him. Since then, Bikram felt Pitabasa targeted him time and again, he added.
Their enmity escalated over the years and Bikram suffered financial losses in many of his businesses which he believed were caused by the senior lawyer, he added.
However, things took a turn when the BJP leader garnered the highest number of votes during the Odisha State Bar Council elections in 2023 but Bikram allegedly used his influence to ensure he was not selected for the coveted vice-chairperson’s post, the SP said.
Similarly, Siba Shankar’s grudge against Pitabasa was since 2013 over a close friend’s murder as the latter was the counsel for the accused. The BJD leader also felt that trial in the case was getting delayed and some of the accused were released on bail due to Pitabasa, said Saravana. One of the accused in the murder was released on bail and reportedly made attempts to kill Siba Shankar in two separate instances which infuriated him, the SP said.
The former Berhampur mayor also felt that Pitabasa had a hand in him being denied an MLA ticket. Siba Shankar has 38 criminal cases against him. He was in jail for about four years.
Police also claimed that Siba Sankar had filed an election petition in 2024 in Orissa High Court through one of his employees challenging the affidavit submitted by the incumbent Berhampur MLA. Both Siba Shankar and Bikram believed that if Berhampur MLA was disqualified, they would get a fresh chance to boost their political careers and wanted to eliminate Pitabasa before that.
