Orissa High Court notice on CCTV footage plea

source: newindianexpress.com

CUTTACK: Cuttack serial murder case prime accused Narayan Sahoo’s wife Geetanjali’s battle for seizure of CCTV footage and its inclusion in the investigation has taken a new turn on Tuesday.

The Orissa High Court has issued notices to the branch manager of Punjab National Bank at Sunamuhin under Odagaon police limits in Nayagarh district and the proprietor of Swain Wine Shop at Salia Sahi in Bhubaneswar.

The single Judge bench of Justice S Pujahari issued the notices on Tuesday following a petition filed by Geetanjali who claimed that her husband was implicated ‘in a false and fabricated handmade case’ and the CCTV footage will prove the claim of the police as false.

The branch manager and the proprietor are expected to file their responses when the petition is taken up for further hearing on reopening of HC after Puja vacation.

Police had arrested Narayan on July 29 from his Sunamuhin village and later named him as prime accused in the case involving three deaths. He is in jail.

Geetanjali had started her battle by moving the Court of JMFC and Court of District Judge in Cuttack for a direction for seizure and production of the CCTV footage to prove that her husband was not present at the time when the alleged offence was committed in Cuttack.

But both the courts had turned down her plea on grounds of jurisdiction. She then moved to the HC seeking its intervention over the inaction of the State Home department on her representation for inclusion of CCTV footage of wine shop on July 21 and the bank on July 23 in the investigation. 

After the Home department failed to respond to the notices issued on the petition, Justice Pujahari on September 27 had asked the petitioner’s counsel Byomakesh Tripathy to include the bank and the wine shop as parties in the case. Tripathy accordingly complied with the order on Tuesday.