Bhubaneswar: In a recent update on the murder of cameraman Manas Swain, the Orissa High Court has rejected the anticipatory bail plea of the prime accused Sarmistha Rout.
Reportedly, five persons have been nabbed in this case as of now while Sarmistha the Editor of an Odia magazine and her associate Jhuna Bhoi are on the run. As many as four teams have been formed to trace them.
The post mortem report of Manas Swain is being awaited from SCB Hospital, Cuttack. Similarly, the DNA samples have also been sent to State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhubaneswar, informed Bhadrak Additional SP Jatin Panda.
“No plans to take Retd OIS officer Niranjan Sethi on remand now. After Sarmistha gets traced, his remand will be sought if required. The investigation is in process to continue,” added Addl SP Panda.
Earlier on Sunday, the retired government official who worked as director of Odisha’s Information and Public Relation Department (IPRD) Niranjan Sethi was arrested by the Bhadrak police allegedly over the abduction and murder case of Manas Swain.
The other three arrested in this case are Bibek Nayak and Bhagyadhar Nayak of Khandagiri, and Krushna Chandra Nayak.
Notably, Manas Swain’s family filed a missing report with Chandbali police on February 14 following which the cops registered a case under sections 373 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Prior to that on February 6, Swain travelled to Palaspur village of Bhadrak for video-recording of a marriage function and was enroute to Bhubaneswar the next morning when three people abducted him, said police. The deceased was in possession of some controversial videos and photos in a chip that Sarmishtha wanted him to hand over to her.
Sources further added that he was taken to an Ashram on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar and killed. The missing case turned into a murder case on March 12 after the body was unearthed from a paddy field in Nayagarh district with the help of Bhagyadhar Nayak, Bebek Nayak, and Krushna Chandra Nayak.
Kalinga AI