The Orissa High Court on Friday refused to grant bail to six accused in the high profile Mahanga double murder case.
The six accused whose bail pleas were rejected include, Kailash Khatua, Malay Barik, Bhikari Swain, Khitish Acharya, Chaitanya Sethi and Arvind Khatua.
It is pertinent to mention here that Odisha Law Minister Pratap Jena has been accused by the family of Kulamani Behera, one of the deceased in the double muder, of being involvement in the murder which had rocked Odisha on the first of the 2021 New Year.
Earlier, a JMFC court had ordered fresh probe into the brutal murder of BJP leader Baral and his associate Dibyasingha Baral after Ramakanta Baral, the son of the slain BJP leader had moved the court challenging the dropping of the name of Minister Pratap Jena from the charge sheet.
The Congress and the BJP have been levelling more serious allegations against the ruling Biju Janata Dal in connection with the case.
The prime accused in the murder Prafulla Biswal, who was found dead under mysterious circumstances, was actually eliminated by the local leaders so that he did not spell out the truth, the Congress had alleged earlier.
The complainant (Ramakanta Baral) had lodged an FIR against 13 persons on January 3, 2021 at the Mahanga PS under Arms Act. Thereafter, the charge sheet was filed against 12 accused persons except Pratap Jena against which the protest petition was filed by Baral.