Paralakhemundi: Amid a demand for CBI probe into the death of Paralakhemundi assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, Crime Branch officials recorded statements of Mamata Panda, the officer in-charge of Gurandi police station in Gajapati district here Friday.
Crime Branch DSP Gyana Ranjan Mishra said, “The investigation is progressing appropriately. We had a discussion with local IIC who was leading the investigation Friday, before the Crime Branch took over.”
“We interrogated Gurandi OIC about the sequence of events on the fateful day. So far, the statements and the examination have been satisfactory. As per requirements we will interrogate others,” he added.
A couple of days ago, ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra’s father Abhiram Mohapatra had expressed his unhappiness over the CB probe, saying the investigation is not reliable.
Abhiram has urged President Ramnath Kovind to intervene and order a CBI investigation into his son’s death. He posted a letter to the President a couple of days ago, seeking an investigation into the death.
He pointed out that 35 days have passed, but no one has been arrested. “If the CBI is handed over the investigation, many accused will be arrested. I can only rely 50 per cent on the Crime Branch.
But the CB is working under pressure from the state government and getting justice is remote,” he noted. “Gajapati DFO Sangram Behera and IIC Mamata Panda have not been suspended.
Bidyabharati and the cook are not taken into remand,” Abhiram wrote in the letter. The CB officials have interrogated three doctors who had treated the ACF July 12 night after he sustained burn injuries.
Four others, who were also grilled, included two ACFs and two forest guards. The CB officials interrogated them at a special cell in Paralakhemundi police station to ascertain as to how a fire mishap took place at Soumya’s government quarter.
PNN