A PIL has been filed in the Orissa High Court today, one day after the post-mortem report of deceased Paralakhemundi Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF). Late Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra’s report showed that the officer died of fire injuries.

The Bharat Vikas Parishad, a social organization, filed a petition in the Orissa High Court on Tuesday. He asked for an investigation into the mysterious death of an Odisha Forest Service (OFS) officer by a Central agency. He named the Union Home Secretary, State Chief Secretary, State Home Secretary, State Director General of Police (DGP), Gajapati SP, and Paralakhemundi Police Station IIC as respondents.

According to reports, many people believe the ACF was murdered, and a thorough investigation is needed to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Furthermore, the police giving a clean chit to a few officers charged in the case (by the deceased officer’s family members) in a rushed way did not sit well with some individuals.

Particularly the deceased officer’s family members. The young OFS officer died of burn injuries, according to the post-mortem report of the dead ACF, which was revealed on Monday.

The ACF’s family members, on the other hand, have disputed the accusations of foul play in the death of ACF Soumya. A murder case was previously filed against three people. That included the deceased’s widow Bidyabharati Panda, the Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) Sangram Behera, and the late ACF’s cook, based on an online complaint by Soumya’s family.

The SP gave the DFO a clean chit last week, noting that the former had no involvement in the death of the ACF.