M A I N   N E W S

Rape convict Bitti Mohanty held

Son of former Odisha DGP BB Mohanty, Bitti had been working as a probationary officer in a public sector bank here for the past three years, impersonating as "Raghav Raja" from Andhra Pradesh, the police said.

Bitti was produced before the First Class Judicial Magistrate at nearby Payyannur and was remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.

Bitti landed in trouble after employees of the bank branch at Pazhayangadi grew suspicious of the true identity of their colleague on seeing his photo among pictures of the accused in various sex crimes shown by television channels and floated on Internet in the wake of the Delhi gangrape incident.

Bitti was picked up from his local residence last week and he revealed his true identity during questioning, sources said.

The police also corroborated their findings by interacting with their counterparts in Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh and Odisha.

Kannur SP Rahul R Nair said the Rajasthan Police had been asked to come to Kannur as Bitti was sentenced to seven years’ imprisonment in 2006 for raping the 26-year-old German woman at Alwar.

The FIR lodged in the local police station charged Bitti with cheating, impersonation and forgery. — PTI