Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Dec 25:

Odisha DGP this evening confirmed the detention of Odisha Stevedores Limited (OSL) Managing Director Mahimananda Mishra aka Mahima Mishra by immigration police in Bangkok.

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“Mahimananda Mishra has been detained at the Immigration Centre in Bangkok. He has been detained at the request of the Odisha police. A six-member team of the Odisha police is on a visit to Thailand to get him. He will be arrested after he is brought to Odisha. He will be deported to India tomorrow,” informed DGP K B Singh at a press conference here at his camp office in the Twin City Commissionerate Police headquarters.

Singh claimed that Odisha police had taken the help of 12 agencies to nab Mahima.

He said Mishra had stayed mostly in luxurious hotels at various places in his fugitive period. These places include New Delhi, Gurugram, Amritsar, Chandigarh, Bhimdutta (Indo-Nepal border), Kathmandu and Bangkok.

Singh informed that Mishra managed to escape to Nepal through the open border where no passport and visa is needed and had then managed to escape to Bangkok in Thailand through tourist visa where he was finally detained as Odisha police were tracking there through appropriate agencies.

Investigation is on and there would be some more arrests, he added.

Earlier in the day, the arrests of Mahimananda Mishra and OSL’s Executive Director Basant Kumar Bal was reported in ‘Bangkok Post’.

“Immigration police have arrested two Indians wanted by the Indian police and Interpol and will deport them to their home country for further legal action, immigration commissioner Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn said,” the ‘Bangkok Post’ has reported.

The ‘Bangkok Post’ report said that Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn identified the two as Mahimananda Mishra, 63, and Basanta Kumar Bal, 69 at a press briefing in a hotel in the Pratunam area.

The report claimed Pol Lt Gen Nathathorn to have stated that the immigration bureau had obtained information on the two from India and Interpol adding that arrest warrants were issued for them by Indian authorities after the pair travelled from Nepal to Thailand on 15-day tourist visas.

It may be mentioned here that the Kujang JMFC court on Friday had issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Odisha Stevedores Limited (OSL) chief Mahimananda Mishra and firm’s Executive Director Basant Bal in connection with the murder of Seaways Shipping and Logistics Private Limited (SSPL) General Manager Mahendra Swain.

Further, a lookout circular was earlier issued against Mishra by the police in connection with the murder of Swain. The OSL chief had moved the Odisha High Court seeking anticipatory bail and challenging the lookout circular. However, the court denied interim protection to him.

Similarly, police had conducted raid on the house of Bal on November 10 and froze his personal account.

It may be recalled here that on October 26 shots were fired at Swain near Ambedkar Bhawan at Madhuban Colony in Paradip. Two miscreants had hurled crude hand bombs at the SUV in which Swain was travelling. While Swain was fleeing to save his life after alighting from the vehicle, miscreants fired two rounds at him leading to his death. persons have been arrested by the police in connection with Swain's murder.

Seven persons have been arrested by the police in connection with Swain's murder so far. They are Rakesh Choubey, Riyasat Hussain alias Riyaz, Mohammad Shamim, Manoj Gochhayat, Shiba, Arindam alias Bapi Sarkhel and Sushant Sethy.

According to the police, Rakesh Choubey had received Rs 12 lakh cash in advance from OSL in September 2016 to execute Swain. Choubey through his associates got Swain killed on October 26 this year.