BHUBANESWAR: Success of operation Silent Viper, which had led to the arrest of 1999 Baranga gang-rape case’s main accused Bibekananda Biswal last month, buoyed the commissionerate police to arrest fugitive Bikram Aditya Jena, an accused in the 2008 murder of famous music director Sumant Mohanty. Negligence by Mancheswar police over a decade had helped Bikram to evade arrest.
The special squad’s assistant commissioner of police Sanjeev Satpathy and his team received specific input about Bikram hiding in Bhubaneswar for the last few days. Bikram, who did diploma in computer engineering in Hyderabad, had fled to Pune after allegedly committing the ghastly crime on October 9, 2008. The case’s prime accused Manas Ranjan Vedanta and three others Sushil Samantray, Sushil Jena and Subhakant Jena were arrested on October 11, 2008 and are currently on bail.
Saumendra Priyadarshi
BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Monday appointed additional director general (ADG) of Crime Branch Saumendra Priyadarshi as the new commissioner of police of Bhubaneswar-Cuttack. Outgoing police commissioner Sudhanshu Sarangi has been given a new posting as the chairman-cum-managing director of Odisha Police Housing and Welfare Corporation .
According to the home departments notification, Sarangi would replace M Akhaya, who has been appointed the new DG of fire services. The post recently fell vacant after Satyajit Mohanty took voluntary retirement and joined as chairman of Odisha public service commission.
The government has not appointed Priyadarshi’s replacement in Crime Branch. “The government has given me a big responsibility. I will perform my best. I will leave no stone unturned to further improve policing in the twin cities,” Priyadarshi told TOI.
BHUBANESWAR: The test identification (TI) parade of Bibekananda Biswal, the main accused of 1999 Baranga gang-rape case, is scheduled to be held at Jh.
CP Sudhanshu Sarangi on Monday announced the arrest (file photo)
BHUBANESWAR: It will be a testing time for the CBI to piece together credible evidence against 1999 Baranga gang-rape case’s main accused Bibekananda Biswal, who was nabbed by the commissionerate police on February 22 after being on the run for the last 22 years.
Experts feel the inordinate delay in the arrest of the main accused may weaken the prosecution’s stand during the fresh trial at this stage. “Earlier, the trial was split as Pradeep Sahu and Dhirendra Mohanty, the two other co-accused were awarded life imprisonment in April 2002. Now the fresh trial would start against Biswal. There will be challenges for the prosecution to succeed in the trial test,” senior Orissa high court lawyer Bibhu Prasad Tripathy said.
BBC News
By Geeta Pandey
image captionBibekananda Biswal was produced in court and remanded in custody
Police in the eastern Indian state of Orissa (also called Odisha) have arrested a man wanted in a notorious 1999 gang rape. The accused hid in plain sight for more than two decades - until a few days ago when his luck ran out.
When police approached Bibekananda Biswal s home last week in Pune district in the western state of Maharashtra, they say he tried to run away. He saw the team coming and tried to escape. When he was caught, he told them, Take me away from here, I ll tell you everything , senior Orissa police official Sudhanshu Sarangi told the BBC.