SIT visits Parala palace to probe into quadruple deaths

Bhubaneswar: A six-member team of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the state Crime Branch visited the palace of Parala Maharaja Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deb on Tuesday to investigate the mysterious death of Maharaja’s former manager Ananga Manjari Patra and her three siblings.

“We have two additional SPs, two Inspectors, one Sub-Inspector and one ASI in our team. We have just begun investigation,” said Additional SP and head of the SIT RB Panigrahi.

The team will probe death of the four in what prima facie appears to be a case of a suicide pact and other cases having a bearing on the incident. It would also inquire the circumstances under which Ananga Manjari and her three siblings died and the reason behind their death.

Besides, the team will also bring the FIR filed by Ananga Manjari’s brother Amulya Patra yesterday under the purview of investigation.

“I have filed an FIR against seven including a News channel. They (protesters) had launched a relay hunger strike alleging grabbing of property by the deceased. They too had burnt effigies of my brothers and hanged garland of shoes on their photos. I am sure this has led to their death,” Amulya Patra said.

A five-member expert team of the State forensic laboratory here will assist the team in the investigation.

The three suicide notes and a dairy recovered from the house of Anang Manjari would play a vital role in the investigation process.

On Sunday, the bodies of Ananga Manjari and her two siblings were recovered from her bolted house while her another brother Tulu Patra, who was rescued in a critical condition from the house the same day, died at the MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur on Monday evening. He had been admitted to the hospital in serious condition.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a Crime Branch probe into the incident yesterday.