Odisha court seeks call details of law minister’s aides in double murder case

The court said that since telecom companies maintain electronic call records only for a year, the inspector of Mahanga police station needed to take immediate steps to collect and preserve the CDRs of the three accused for the period between December 2020 and February 2021

Published on: Nov 21, 2021, 10:19:34 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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A Cuttack court on Saturday asked the Odisha police to submit call detail records of three accused including two aides of law minister Pratap Jena, who was under scanner in the case of the twin murders of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders in Cuttack early this year. The court also slammed the police for failure to submit a progress report in the case.

Odisha Police had dropped minister Pratap Jena’s name from the charge sheet of the twin murder case. (Photo Courtesy-Facebook)

The court of judicial magistrate first class in Salipur area of Cuttack sought call detail records (CDR) of Mahanga panchayat samiti chairman Sarat Nayak and Bapi Biswal, known as Jena’s representative in his assembly constituency, apart from Prafulla Biswal, the main accused who died in a road accident in February this year.

The court said that since telecom companies maintain electronic call records only for a year, the inspector of Mahanga police station needed to take immediate steps to collect and preserve the CDRs of the three accused for the period between December 2020 and February 2021.

On January 2 this year, Kulamani Baral, 75, and in-charge of Salepur mandal of the BJP and former chairman of Mahanga panchayat Samiti was hacked to death along with his 80-year-old associate Dibyasingh Baral near Jankoti village. Baral had reportedly been raising the issue of ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders’ alleged involvement in misappropriation of funds forhousing of poorunder thePMAY (Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana). Though police booked law minister Pratap Jena and 12 others in the twin murder case following an FIR by Kulamani’s son, his name was subsequently dropped from the charge sheet.

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In August this year, the court asked for a fresh probe into the case following a petition against the exclusion of law minister’s name from the charge sheet. When contacted, Jena said he had no comments to offer.

Baral’s son Ramakanta, who filed the petition before the court had alleged that the investigating officer did not examine real witnesses to shield the minister. The investigating officer in his charge sheet had said that the call detail records of all the accused were verified and it showed they didn’t receive any calls from Pratap Jena.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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