Bhubaneswar: The Special Court of Additional District Judge (ADJ-III) in Bhubaneswar convicted former Gunupur MLA Ramamurthy Gomango in his wife's murder case, today. The woman was found dead under mysterious circumstances in 1995, nearly 28 years ago.

A source said that punishment will be awarded by the court to the convict on Tuesday (June 27). Based on the statements of 11 witnesses and 15 documents pertaining to the case, Gomango was convicted.

The body of Gomango’s wife Sashirekha was spotted with severe burn injuries at his residence (Qr. No.-DS-18/1) in MLA Colony of the State Capital on August 29 of 1995.

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Initially, an unnatural death (U/d) case (No-6/95) was registered and a probe was initiated. Subsequently, a probe team of Kharavel Nagar police station converted it to a murder case (No-270/95) under Sections 302 (punishment for murder) and 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The victim woman was around five months pregnant as of the intervening day.

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“Gomango had lodged an FIR with Kharavel Nagar police saying that his wife had committed suicide inside the bathroom by burning herself. However, the investigating officer (IO) subsequently found some evidence that suggested it to be a case of murder. She was murdered on Ganesh Chaturthi day following a verbal duel that erupted between the couple,” public prosecutor Rashmi Ranjan Brahma said.

Worthy mentioning, Gomango was elected from the Gunupur Assembly constituency segment of Rayagada district in 1990 on the Janata Dal ticket. Subsequently, he left the erstwhile Janata Dal and joined BJP in 2000. He also won the Gunupur seat in General Elections the same year for the second time.