Pitabas Panda murder case. (Awakening)
Jagran correspondent, Bhubaneswar. In the murder case of senior advocate and BJP leader Pitabas Panda, the police took major action within 75 days and filed the primary charge sheet in the court on Monday.
The investigation team led by Town SDPO Pius Ranjan Chhotrai presented the chargesheet filled in two trunks in the court. According to the police, the original charge sheet is about 1666 pages long, while 18 copies of it have been prepared.
Overall, the number of documents related to the charge sheet is reaching approximately 30 thousand pages. Along with the charge sheet, CCTV footage has also been submitted in the court as important evidence.
16 accused, 124 witnesses
In this much-discussed murder case, the police have named all the 16 accused arrested so far in the charge sheet. At the same time, 124 people have been made witnesses in the case. Police officials have indicated that the final charge sheet will also be filed after the completion of further investigation.
The murder took place on the night of 6 October
It is noteworthy that BJP leader Pitabas Panda was shot dead on the night of October 6 on Vaikunthnagar Road under Vaidyanathpur police station area. After this sensational incident, there was a sharp reaction at the political and social level in the entire state.
Many big names included
The accused arrested in the case include former MLA Vikram Panda, former mayor Shivshankar Das alias Pintu, corporator Malay Bisoi, BJD leader Madan Dalai and others. Earlier, the police had also filed a CD in the court on December 9.
Legal battle continues on bail
The bail plea of former MLA Vikram Panda has been rejected by the lower court, after which he has approached the High Court. Former mayor Pintu is currently lodged in Phulbani jail, while other accused including Vikram Panda are detained in Berhampur divisional jail.
Police claim that on the basis of concrete evidence collected in the case, the investigation is progressing rapidly towards giving strict punishment to the accused.