Absconding rapist Bittihotra Mohanty’s sensational six-year-long escapade virtually unravelled on Saturday after his father and former Odisha Director-General of Police B.B. Mohanty admitted here to a Kerala Police team that ‘Raghav Rajan’ was indeed his son.
Bittihotra, who had jumped parole in December 2006 while serving out a seven-year term for the rape of a German visitor in Alwar in Rajasthan that year, was arrested on March 9 in Kannur, where he was with a public sector bank as a probationary officer with a fake identity. He has since been suspended. The arrest came about following an anonymous tip-off received by the bank authorities.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police gave a clean chit to the ex-DGP by stating that he had no role in faking academic certificates in the name of Raghav Rajan, which were used by the fugitive to join an MBA course in a Kerala college and later to join the State Bank of Travancore two years ago.
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Mr. Mohanty “identified his son after seeing the photographs we showed him,” a member of the police team said after interrogating the ex-DGP. “We could not find any role of his father in preparing the forged certificates,” he added. The interrogation lasted nearly four hours.
The officer emphatically said “yes” when reporters asked him whether Mr. Mohanty was innocent in his son’s actions of creating fake academic certificates in the name of Raghav Rajan. The officer, however, refused to divulge details of the basis on which they were giving a clean chit to the former Indian Police Service officer.
Replying to a question, the leader of the Kerala Police team, Josi Joseph, ruled out booking the retired IPS officer in the impersonation and forgery cases against his son.
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The Kerala team visited three educational institutions in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar on Friday and after a process of verification confirmed that the academic certificates in the possession of the arrested youth were fake.
The authorities of the private university, college and school informed the police team that they never had any student by name Raghav Rajan. Bittihotra had superimposed the name on the certificates, the police said.
Summoned by the visiting police team, Mr.Mohanty came to the office of the Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police to face interrogation. He later told waiting mediapersons that he had all along sought to uphold the law and was cooperating with the police.
He did not divulge details of the interrogation. “I cannot say anything to you as the investigation is on. Last time I spoke to you, I had to face a lot of questions from the court,” he said, asking reporters politely with folded hands not to ask him anything more.
The Kerala police team arrived here and met DGP Prakash Mishra at the police headquarters and reportedly apprised him while seeking the help of the Odisha police. Then they reached the DCP’s office, where Mr. Mohanty turned up after five minutes on a two-wheeler by himself.
Meanwhile, a police team that had taken Bittihotra to Alwar and Jaipur for investigations there, is on its way back by train. They are expected to reach Kerala on Sunday.