Bhubaneswar/Cuttack: Crime Branch Special DG BK Sharma on Tuesday said former Inspector of Schools (SI) Netrananda Dandasena was the lone accused in the Itishree Pradhan murder case.
Talking to media persons, Pradhan stated, “We had submitted the charge sheet only against Dandasena. In the charge sheet, we established that from the time when Itishree went to the area, Dandasena inflicted physical and mental torture on the lady upper primary school teacher and cases were also registered at the police station at different times. We found that Dandasena was pressurizing Itishree to withdraw the cases and settle for a compromise. As the lady teacher did not oblige, Dandasena poured kerosene on her and set her on fire through an accomplice.”
On a query on the person who poured kerosene on Itishree, Sharma said, “As per the Supreme Court directive, the case was handed over to CBI to identify the person who set ablaze the lady teacher.”
Sharma added, “Itishree’s four dying declarations, which were video recorded as well as written and taken in presence of magistrate and doctors, were the important evidence in the case.”
The Crime Branch was handed over the Tikiri lady teacher murder case on November 1, 2013. The charge sheet was filed on February 22, 2014 against Dandasena under different sections, including Sec 302.
The Crime Branch had appointed advocate Rajendra Sahu to present the investigating team’s side during the trial, which began in November 2014.
“In one and half years, we produce 36 witnesses for examination during the trial,” Sharma added.
Earlier in the day, the District and Sessions Court of Rayagada awarded a life term to Dandasena in the Itishree murder case after convicting him under Sec 302, 109 and 120 (B) of Cr PC.