Bhubaneswar: Bidya Bharati Panda, wife of late Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, surrendered before the SDJM Court in Paralakhemundi in connection with her husband’s death case.
Her surrender came after the Orissa High Court rejected her anticipatory bail plea on October 31. She had moved the High Court seeking protection from arrest in connection with her husband’s death case.
The incident dates back to July 2021. On July 11, 2021, Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, who was posted as ACF in Paralakhemundi of Gajapati district, suffered around 80 per cent burn injuries under suspicious circumstances at his government quarters.
He was first admitted to a local hospital and later shifted to Kataka for advanced treatment, but died during treatment. Three days later, on July 14, 2021, his family filed a complaint alleging murder.
The FIR named three persons – his wife Bidya Bharati Panda, the then Gajapati DFO Sangram Behera, and the cook Manmath Kumbha.
Considering the gravity of the matter, the state government handed over the probe to the Crime Branch in August 2021.
The death of the young forest officer had sparked statewide outrage and raised many questions over the circumstances of his death. The arrest of his wife comes over five years after the incident.
