Bhubaneswar: Former BJD MLA Bikram Panda was questioned for around four hours on Tuesday in connection with an alleged threat to a witness in the murder case of senior advocate and BJP member Pitabash Panda, police said.
Panda was questioned by Goshaninuagaon police in connection with a case registered against him, one of his associates and a jail doctor for allegedly threatening witness Laalit Mangaraj using the doctor’s mobile phone while the accused was lodged in the Circle Jail here.
The case was registered on September 15 based on a complaint by Mangaraj, police said.
Panda, who had been lodged in the jail for around 10 months in connection with the murder case, was released on bail on September 1.
“Police questioned me based on the allegation made by a person. I told the truth while answering all the questions,” Panda told reporters after the interrogation.
“As part of the investigation into the case, he was interrogated,” police said.
Earlier, police had questioned jail doctor Susant Kumar Panigrahi in connection with the case. The state government suspended Panigrahi on September 20 over his alleged role in facilitating the use of a mobile phone by a murder accused inside the jail.
According to police, Panda and his associate Madan Dalai, who is also lodged in the jail in connection with the Pitabash murder case, allegedly threatened Mangaraj on August 28 using the mobile phone of the jail doctor.
Police examined CCTV footage from the doctor’s chamber and collected technical evidence before registering a case against Panda, Dalai and Panigrahi, officials said.
Panda was arrested on November 6, 2025, along with 15 others, including former Berhampur Municipal Corporation mayor Shiva Shankar Das, BJD corporator Malaya Bisoi and Dalai, for their alleged involvement in the murder of Pitabash.
Pitabash, an active BJP member, was allegedly shot at close range by two motorcycle-borne assailants near his residence in Baikuntha Nagar under the Baidyanathpur police station limits on October 6, 2025.
Local residents rushed him to the medical college and hospital, where doctors declared him dead.
Police had arrested Panda and Das for allegedly hatching a conspiracy to murder Pitabash.
