**Bhubaneswar:** A day after the State Crime Branch moved the Orissa High Court challenging the verdict of the trail court in regard to the Pipli gang rape and murder case, Crime Branch ADG Santosh Kumar Upadhyay said the arguments of the Public Prosecutor presented before the court carry sufficient grounds for conviction in the case.
Addressing mediapersons on the sidelines of the three-day-long 61st Senior Police Officers’ Conference at the Police Bhawan here, Upadhyay said, “The Public Prosecutor had submitted an 80-page written argument about merits of the case which contained various points, facts and evidences to award conviction in the case. After studying it we approached the Directorate of Public Prosecutions (DPP), who also after studying the report found abundant and adequate merit in filing appeal in the case and that the case is convictionable.”
The ADG further said the DPP strongly recommended the case to the Advocate General through whom a Crime Branch DSP submitted an affidavit in the Orissa High Court on Thursday.
It is worthwhile to mention that the Bhubaneswar ADJ Court on December 27 had acquitted prime accused Prasant Pradhan and his brother Sukant in the Pipili gang rape case of 2011, also known as Bebina case. The verdict had triggered a controversy in the State with many criticising the Crime Branch for its ‘‘failure to corroborate evidence” to provide justice to Bebina’s family.