7 June :Unable to nab two of the 19 accused in the nun rape case, the Crime Branch (CB) of Orissa Police moved Baliguda SDJM court seeking legal sanctions to declare the duo as absconders even as it filed charge sheet against seven more persons on Friday.Though the CB sleuths have so far arrested 17 persons for their alleged involvement in the rape of a 29-year-old Catholic nun at Kandhamal on 25th August, 2008, they failed to arrest the two others.
The duo, identified as Gururam Patra and Pandit Bisi Majhi, neither responded to the CB notices served at their addresses nor cooperated with the investigation despite several warnings, a senior CB official said.
"We can hang notices on the doors of the accused if the court allows us to declare them as absconders," Investigating Officer of the nun rape case, Dilip Kumar Mohanty, said, adding that the police could seize their property if they fail to surrender before the investigating agency.
The CB had filed charge sheet against 17 persons in two phases at Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate’s (SDJM) court at Baliguda.