Father of Bidya Bharati, the widow of deceased Paralakhemundi Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Saumya Ranjan Mohapatra, feigned ignorance about the findings in the recent lie detection test carried out on his daughter and said that she is under extreme mental pressure.
On Thursday Srihar Panda, Bidya Bharati’s father, had visited the Livestock Inspectors’ Training Centre in Bolangir where the latter is appearing for an exam. “I came to drop her at the centre as she has been appearing for the Livestock Inspector exams since yesterday. We have not discussed anything with her regarding the lie detection test,” Panda said to a query if he knew about the findings in the lie detection test which Bidya underwent recently.
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He said the developments in the past few months following Soumya Rajan’s death have left Bidya and other members of his family traumatised and caused severe mental stress.
Clad in white Salwar Kameez, Bidya drove down to the centre in the morning with her father. She, however, preferred to evade questions posed by reporters and hurried into the examination centre.
Earlier, before and some months after her wedding with Soumya Ranjan, Bidya continued to stay at the institute’s hostel. However, some months ago, Bidya had moved to Paralakhemundi along with Soumya while continuing her studies. She would attend the institute only to appear the exams.
Meanwhile, the State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) on Wednesday handed over the lie-detection test report of the three accused, including Bidya, Gajapati DFO Sangram Keshari Behera and the cook working for the ACF, Manmath Kambha, in the Soumya Ranjan death case to the Odisha Crime Branch.
The CB will examine the test reports of the three accused and match them with their earlier recorded statements following which the investigating agency will decide its course of action, a top Crime Branch official had stated.
All the three accused had undergone polygraph tests at the SFSL in Bhubaneswar a few days ago.
On July 11, Soumya Ranjan was found with burn injuries at his quarters and rushed to a hospital. However, a day later, he succumbed while undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Cuttack.
The family members of the deceased officer have been alleging involvement of the trio in the death and also named Bidya as a co-accused in the FIR they have lodged at the Paralakhemundi police station following the mysterious death of the young forest officer.