To cut a long chase short

Orissa Police DG B.B. Mohanty gets bail after surrendering, but where is his son Bitti?
By Dhrutikam Mohanty
After successfully eluding the police for nearly four months, former DG of Orissa police B.B. Mohanty dramatically surfaced on January 9 and surrendered before Jaipur assistant judicial magistrate’s court. Though his attempt to get bail on the very same day failed, he was granted bail by Additional District Judge C.P. Sharma the very next day. However, Mohanty’s surrender comes days after he had conveyed to the Supreme Court that he would surrender within two weeks in Rajasthan after the apex court set a deadline of January 10.Bidya Bhusan Mohanty, a senior Orissa police official, is accused of helping his son, Bitti Hotra, jump parole and evade police arrest after being convicted by a fast track court in Rajasthan for allegedly raping a German research scholar in Alwar on March 20, 2006. A case against the IPS officer was registered by the Rajasthan police on December 4, 2006, for allegedly sheltering and concealing facts concerning the convict. Furthermore, Rajsthan police officers made a number of visits to Orissa in order to arrest and interrogate Mohanty about Bitti but they failed to meet him even once.Mohanty was suspended just a few hours after a Jaipur court had issued a non-bailable warrant against him. On November 15, 2007, the court declared the senior Orissa cop an absconder and issued a standing warrants against him under which, he could be arrested any time and at any place. According to Mohanty’s legal consultant, ‘The case against us is very weak and is not enough to convict Mohanty. We believe that Rajasthan police’s charges under sections 225, 217 & 130 of the IPC cannot be established. As his suspension order was released just after the non-bailable warrant was issued, we will put forward our demand for cancellation of the suspension.’Dharnidhar Nayak, a senior lawyer of the Orissa High Court says the suspension of B.B. Mohanty is an administrative order and does not have any connection with this bail. But the government cannot take further disciplinary action against him. Had he spent more than 48 hours in jail, he would be dismissed from his job. But he spent only 24 hours in judicial custody. Since no court has convicted him as yet, he is not a criminal and there is no hurdle on his way to join his job. Meanwhile, former police DG of Orissa, S.N. Tiwari argued, ‘though Bidya Bhushan has managed to get bail, he is still not acquitted. I think the state government may not consider his suspension order.’All said and done, he crux of the matter is that Bitti Hotra, the main accused, is absconding and the police remain clueless about his whereabouts to this day.