Rape accused shoots himself to frame survivor’s kin, arrested | Bhubaneswar News
Bhubaneswar: Police on Sunday arrested a rape accused out on bail, who allegedly shot himself and attempted to frame the survivor’s family for attempted murder.
The accused was identified as Dipti Ranjan Mohapatra (35), a land dealer. Amaresh Pradhan (36) and Tofan Bisoi (33), who supplied Mohapatra with the illegal firearm, have been also arrested. Police have seized the pistol, one empty cartridge and four bullets.
Police unravelled the truth upon examining the injury on Mohapatra’s left shoulder. “The injury displayed characteristic signs of self-inflicted close-range firing, including blackening of the wound area and skin burns caused by hot smoke and gunpowder residue from weapon’s discharge,” DCP Jagmohan Meena said.
Early on Sunday, Mohapatra had lodged a complaint at Balipatna police station accusing two men of opening fire at him on Saturday late night while he was returning from a village cultural show.
During investigation, police found that Mohapatra was arrested by Mahila police on June 21, 2024 on charges of sexually abusing a woman and circulating her morphed photos on social media. He was released on bail in Jan this year.
Police investigation found Mohapatra wanted to take revenge against the survivor’s family. “He devised a plan to wound himself with a firearm. His associates, Pradhan and Bisoi, assisted in acquiring a 9 mm unlicensed pistol,” DCP Meena said.
As per the plan, Mohapatra and his accomplices visited an isolated spot on Saturday night where he shot himself on his left shoulder. He placed a cotton in his mouth to endure the pain and avoid alerting others. The bullet passed through his shoulder and exited. His associates subsequently left the place and took the pistol with them.
Mohapatra alerted his family members, who rushed to the spot and shifted him to Capital Hospital before informing the police.
In his FIR, Mohapatra named the rape survivor’s husband (who married the woman a few months after the sexual assault) and another family member of shooting him.
After police disclosed the sequence of events, Mohapatra’s mother sat on dharna at Balipatna police station claiming her son was innocent and threatened self-immolation.
The accused was identified as Dipti Ranjan Mohapatra (35), a land dealer. Amaresh Pradhan (36) and Tofan Bisoi (33), who supplied Mohapatra with the illegal firearm, have been also arrested. Police have seized the pistol, one empty cartridge and four bullets.
Police unravelled the truth upon examining the injury on Mohapatra’s left shoulder. “The injury displayed characteristic signs of self-inflicted close-range firing, including blackening of the wound area and skin burns caused by hot smoke and gunpowder residue from weapon’s discharge,” DCP Jagmohan Meena said.
Early on Sunday, Mohapatra had lodged a complaint at Balipatna police station accusing two men of opening fire at him on Saturday late night while he was returning from a village cultural show.
During investigation, police found that Mohapatra was arrested by Mahila police on June 21, 2024 on charges of sexually abusing a woman and circulating her morphed photos on social media. He was released on bail in Jan this year.
Police investigation found Mohapatra wanted to take revenge against the survivor’s family. “He devised a plan to wound himself with a firearm. His associates, Pradhan and Bisoi, assisted in acquiring a 9 mm unlicensed pistol,” DCP Meena said.
As per the plan, Mohapatra and his accomplices visited an isolated spot on Saturday night where he shot himself on his left shoulder. He placed a cotton in his mouth to endure the pain and avoid alerting others. The bullet passed through his shoulder and exited. His associates subsequently left the place and took the pistol with them.
Mohapatra alerted his family members, who rushed to the spot and shifted him to Capital Hospital before informing the police.
In his FIR, Mohapatra named the rape survivor’s husband (who married the woman a few months after the sexual assault) and another family member of shooting him.
After police disclosed the sequence of events, Mohapatra’s mother sat on dharna at Balipatna police station claiming her son was innocent and threatened self-immolation.
