By Our Correspondent
BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Crime Branch probing the death of ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, had given clean chit to the key suspects, DFO Sangram Keshari Behera and Manmath Kumbha, the cook attached to the deceased officer’s quarters. Few days back, Behera had surrendered after the arrest warrant was issued by the court, finally arrested and later Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi suspended him.
Sanjeeb Pandaa 1994-batch IPS officer serving as Additional Director General (ADG) of the Odisha Crime Branch (CID-CB) at the time of incident. The Crime Branch investigation under Sanjeeb Panda (ADG, Crime Branch at the time) has been widely viewed as flawed or incomplete, and its key conclusions were later overturned by the court. Seeking to give clean chit to Sangram Behera and the cook Kumbha, ADGP Panda had then said, “As far as Sangram Behera and the cook are concerned, they have not been found to have any links with either Vidyabharati or the death of Soumya.”
Booked only the wife, Bidya Bharati Panda, under lighter sections — IPC 304-A (causing death by negligence) and 285 (negligent conduct with fire) — saying she did not do enough to save her husband. Relied on the dying declaration, witness statements, CDR analysis, polygraph tests, and forensics to reach this conclusion. ADGP Panda had publicly stated there was “no evidence of homicide or suicide.”
What the Crime Branch concluded (October 2021)
Under ADG Sanjeeb Panda, the Crime Branch: Ruled the death of ACF Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra an accidental fire (not murder or suicide). Gave a clean chit to then-DFO Sangram Keshari Behera and the cook Manmath Kumbha. Found no evidence of any relationship between the DFO and the ACF’s wife, or of a conspiracy.
The case involves the July 2021 death of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra in Paralakhemundi (Gajapati district, Odisha). He sustained severe burn injuries at his official residence on the night of July 11/12, 2021, and died the next day. His family alleged murder and named then-DFO Sangram Keshari Behera, the ACF’s wife Bidya Bharati Panda, and cook Manmath Kumbha; an FIR was registered under IPC Sections 302 (murder) and 120B (criminal conspiracy).
Local police initially investigated. The Odisha government transferred the probe to the Crime Branch around August 11–14, 2021. A three-member Crime Branch team (headed by DSP Gyana Ranjan Mishra) took over, with support from experts.
Sanjeeb Panda had been appointed ADG of the state Crime Branch in a June 24, 2021, IPS reshuffle (replacing the previous in-charge arrangement after Yeshwant Jethwa moved to Vigilance). He held the post through the key investigation period in 2021 (and into early 2022, before Arun Bothra took over in April/May 2022).
Early local police actions (under Gajapati SP Tapan Patnaik) and later Crime Branch findings (which at one stage treated aspects as accidental/negligence, later challenged in court) have been controversial, with the case seeing summons, clean chits that were overturned, recent arrests/custody of the former DFO, and suspension in 2026. The Crime Branch head at the time of the transfer and primary probe was Sanjeeb Panda.
The victim’s family strongly rejected the findings and approached the local court in 2022, pointing out serious lacunae in the investigation. In April 2023, the Paralakhemundi court (SDJM) summoned the DFO, the wife, and the cook on murder (302) and criminal conspiracy (120B) charges, holding that there was sufficient material to proceed against them — directly contradicting the Crime Branch’s clean chit.
The case remained largely stalled for years. Only in 2026 did major developments occur: the former DFO was forced to surrender, sent to judicial custody, and suspended from service after the new state government took a harder line. In short, the Crime Branch under Sanjeeb Panda closed the case as an accident with only negligence against the wife. Subsequent court orders and recent actions show that investigation did not stand up to scrutiny and is widely regarded as having failed to properly probe the murder allegations.
He is a 1994-batch IPS officer, currently serving as ADG, Anti-Naxal Operations (also handling Special Intelligence Wing). He took this charge in July 2025 . He is among the 11 officers shortlisted by the Odisha government and sent to the UPSC for the next DGP panel (as of July–August 2026). Stronger contenders mentioned in reports include Dr Sudhanshu Sarangi (1990 batch) and R.P. Koche (1993 batch). The UPSC empanelment process was delayed after Odisha wanted to drop one name of Sushant Nath, 1993 batch, with incumbent DGP Y.B. Khurania set to retire on August 16.
