Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda acquitted in 2008 Nayagarh attack case
Sabyasachi Panda, 55, who was arrested by Odisha Police in July 2014 from Berhampur town in Ganjam district, has been in judicial custody since then.
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Panda was once marked as one of the most-wanted Maoist leaders in Odisha. (File) The district court in Odisha’s Nayagarh Monday (March 27) acquitted former Maoist leader Sabyasachi Panda in connection with an attack on the district reserve police in 2008.
Panda, 55, who was arrested by Odisha Police in July 2014 from Berhampur town in Ganjam district, has been in judicial custody since then. Around 800 gm of gold ornaments, a revolver, multiple mobile phones with sim cards, a laptop and Maoist literature were seized from his possession on the day of his arrest.
Panda was once marked as one of the most-wanted Maoist leaders in Odisha and allegedly involved in some of the high-profile crimes, including the killing of Hindu seer Laxamananda Saraswati and four of his disciples in Kandhamal district in 2008 that triggered communal violence in the region.
In 2012, he was involved in the abduction of two Italian tourists in the Kandhamal district. While one of them, Claudio Colangelo, was set free, the other, Paolo Bosusco, was released after 29 days in captivity.
Police sources said 134 cases were pending against Panda in different police stations in Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Rayagada and Nayagarh districts. Panda has been acquitted in 57 cases.
According to a lawyer, panda and two of his aides have been acquitted in the case from 2008 because of lack of evidence.
Over 100 Maoists, including women cadres with firearms, attacked the police training school, the district armoury and a police station in Daspalla in Nayagarh district on February 15, 2008. As many as 14 people — 13 security personnel and a civilian — were killed in the incident and ten others sustained injuries.
The Maoists also took away a huge cache of arms and ammunition in two vehicles. Panda was alleged to be the mastermind of the attack as the case was assigned to the crime branch for investigation.
In May 2019, the additional sessions judge in Berhampur in Ganjam convicted and sentenced Panda, who was the founder-leader of Odisha Maobadi Party, to life imprisonment under Section 121 of Indian Penal Code (IPC) for waging war against the government or abetting the waging of such war. He has been lodged in the Berhampur jail.
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