Berhampur: One of the prime accused in the sensational murder of Manoranjan Mishra, the then Sub-Inspector cum OIC of Sheragada Police Station in 2010, Sameer Panda, has been convicted by the Additional Sessions Judge, Aska PK Choudhury. The Court has sentenced him to life imprisonment. Sameer Panda was absconding since November 15th and was arrested by the Berhampur Police last Sunday from a lodge in Berhampur. The Court has also imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the accused.
It is worth mentioning here that the then OIC of Sheragada Police Outpost Sub-Inspector Manoranjan Mishra was murdered on 11th November 2010 while he was returning to his home in Hinjilikatu after regular patrolling duty. According to reports, he had an argument with some suspicious anti-socials that night after which they shot him from point blank range.
Speaking to NewsroomOdisha, Berhampur SP Dr. Saravana Vivek M said, “We are very happy that the second important accused in the case has been convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment. We had made a detailed plan of action to arrest Sameer ever since he absconded. We were closely monitoring his movements with intelligence inputs and arrested him from a lodge in Berhampur.”
The police had arrested three accused in the case including Sunil Panigrahi alias Sunil Behera , Samir Panda and Susant Behera. Susant Behera was earlier last month sentenced to life imprisonment by the Aska Additional Sessions Court. The court had recorded 22 witnesses in this case including that of Manoranjan’s wife and then Inspector of Sheragada Police Station.