DGP's son Bitti Mohanty in custody; DNA test postponed

Bangalore, May 28: A local court has sent former Odisha police chief's son Bitti Mohanty, who had jumped parole in 2006 while serving a sentence for raping a German tourist, to judicial custody.

Bitti, the son of former Odisha DGP B B Mohanty, who was brought to Jaipur by Kerala Police on May 25, was produced in the court of Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate yesterday, who ordered to send Bitti to judicial custody.

Jaipur police had asked the Court for Bitti's police custody but the same was refused.

Mohanty was arrested for raping a German tourist in Rajasthan's Alwar district on March 21, 2006 and convicted on April 12 the same year. He was sentenced to seven years' imprisonment on rape charges and lodged in Jaipur jail.

In November 2006, he secured parole to meet his ailing mother but did not return. Bitti was arrested in March this year from Kerala's Kannur district where he was working with a bank under false identity of Raghav Rajan.

During the hearing yesterday, the Jaipur Police claimed that the person was Bitti Mohanty but his counsel argued that he was Raghav Rajan, and not Bitti. After arguments, the Court granted him bail but since the bail bonds could not be produced before the magistrate, Bitti was sent to judicial custody.

The court ordered Mohanty to undergo DNA test.

But Kerala High Court today, stayed the order to undergo DNA test for a week.

The interim order in this regard was issued by justice K Harilal on a petition filed by Mohanty, challenging the order of sessions court, Thalassery, granting permission to conduct a DNA test on him to obtain scientific proof of establishing his identity.

He was arrested on March 9 from Kannur, where he was working as a probationary officer in a branch of the State Bank of Travancore under the name of Raghav Rajan of Andhra Pradesh.

He claimed that he was not Bitti and though he was taken to Rajasthan for collecting evidence, nothing could be traced.

Inputs from PTI