Former Gajapati DFO Sangram Keshari Behera Suspended, Arrested in 2021 ACF Soumya Ranjan Death Case

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has suspended senior forest officer Sangram Keshari Behera, the former Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) of Gajapati, in connection with the 2021 death of Assistant Conservator of Forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra.

The suspension was ordered by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. Behera, who was serving as Director (Commercial) of the Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC), is currently in judicial custody after surrendering before the SDJM Court in Paralakhemundi on Monday.

His surrender came after multiple legal setbacks, including the issuance of non-bailable warrants against him in the case.

The incident dates back to July 11, 2021, when Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra, a 2020-batch Odisha Forest Service (OFS) officer, sustained nearly 80 per cent burn injuries under mysterious circumstances at his official government residence in Paralakhemundi. He was initially admitted to government hospitals in Berhampur and Cuttack before being shifted to a private hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.

The tragic death triggered widespread public outrage across Odisha. Three days after the incident, on July 14, 2021, Soumya’s family lodged a complaint alleging that he had been murdered. The complaint named then Gajapati DFO Sangram Keshari Behera, Soumya’s wife Bidya Bharati Panda, and the official cook, Manmath Kumbha, as accused.

Considering the seriousness and public sensitivity of the case, the Odisha government transferred the investigation to the CID-Crime Branch in August 2021. The probe has continued since then, with recent legal developments leading to Behera’s arrest and subsequent suspension from service.