OUAT hit-and-run case: Arrested man not driver, claims eyewitness

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Feb 8:

In a shocking twist in the Orissa University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT) hit-and-run case, an eyewitness today claimed that the person who has been arrested is not the driver of the car which hit a female student of the varsity leading to her death in Odisha capital.

In another interesting revelation, the eyewitness said that there were two persons in the car at the time of the accident whereas the arrested person had told police that he was the only person inside the vehicle during the mishap.

“The person who has been arrested is not the man who was driving the car at that time. Two persons were present inside the car. I chased the car till Siripur Chhak but in vain. Though I didn’t see them clearly, both were fat persons (unlike the arrested person),” the eyewitness told Kanak News, our sister concern.

Suchismita Biswal, the deceased student who was pursuing her Master of Computer Application (MCA) under the Centre for Post-Graduate Studies (CPGS) in the university, died after being hit by a Tata Safari SUV on Siripur-Fire Station road on February 4 night.

One of her friends identified as Pragyna Tiwari sustained critical injuries in the accident.

While police seized the vehicle after the mishap, the driver had managed to flee the spot after the accident.

Police had yesterday arrested Maheswar Behera, driver of former Speaker of Odisha Assembly, Kishore Mohanty and hailing from Badamba in Cuttack district, for his alleged involvement in the incident.

The Twin City Commissionerate police had informed that the ownership of the car is in the name of Sidharth Construction, whose owner is the kin of Cuttack-Barabati MLA Debashish Samantray, though it was sold out to former Speaker of Odisha Assembly, Kishore Mohanty in 2009.