Bhubaneswar, September 18: The Crime Branch of Odisha police, which is probing the death of Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF), Paralakhemundi, on Friday conducted a polygraph test (lie detection) on the Gajapati Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Keshari Behera.
Behera, one of the accused in the mysterious death of the young ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, underwent the test for over three hours which was conducted at the State Forensic Science Laboratory in Bhubaneswar, was at least 100 questions in order to unravel the truth behind the death of Mohapatra.
Sources said that Manmath Kumbha, the cook of DFO, who was also named in the FIR filed by deceased ACF’s father family members, also underwent lie detection test today.
The family members have also named Bidya Bharati Panda, the widow of Soumya Ranjan, as a co-accused in the FIR lodged at the Paralakhemundi police station following the mysterious death of the officer.
The young forest officer sustained burn injuries in his official quarter on July 12 and died at a private hospital in Cuttack on July 13. His wife was present in the house during the incident.
The deceased’s father, Abhiram Mohapatra, alleged that his son was murdered. After a month of investigation by Paralakhemundi police, the Crime Branch took over the probe into the case in the middle of August.
