Former Rajya Sabha MP and Biju Janata Dal president of Rayagada district N. Bhaskar Rao is facing legal trouble after a local court in Odisha’s Rayagada district issued a non-bailable arrest warrant against him.
Mr. Rao and five others were linked in a murder of a tribal leader in 2010. The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) Court, Rayagada issued the NBW for arrest of Mr. Rao on the basis of a petition filed by Jagannath Mandangi, younger brother of deceased Bhagirathi Mandangi.
Bhagirathi Mandangi’s family had alleged that he was murdered as he exposed financial misappropriation within the Maa Majhighariani Temple Trust in Rayagada. He specifically accused a trustee, who is also the brother of a BJD leader, in connection with the incident.
On December 15, 2010, he had left to attend a scheduled meeting of the trust. However, his body was found with hands and legs tied in a dam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh after few days. The State government had ordered a crime branch investigation into the murder. However, the probe was moving at a snail’s pace. This year, the deceased leader’s brother had filed a petition in the SDJM court urging fresh intervention.
The charges mentioned in the NBW include murder, destruction of evidence, and common intention under Sections 302, 201, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.
Published – November 13, 2024 06:38 am IST
