HC likely to monitor probe against Dhalasamant brothers

The Orissa High Court today directed a petitioner, an RTI activist, to furnish details of at least any one criminal case registered against the arrested Dhalasamant brothers for the purpose of reference.
Sushil Kumar Dhlasamant and his elder brother Sushant were arrested by the commissionerate police last month in connection with their alleged involvement in the murder of two of their former associates in November 2013.
RTI activist Pradeep Pradhan had approached the HC through a PIL seeking either a CBI inquiry or court-monitored investigation into the alleged political links of mafia dons. He expressed apprehensions that the recovery of sophisticated firearms, huge cache of ammunition and cash from the houses of the arrested brothers may lead to a sensational breakthrough.

A division bench, headed by Acting Chief Justice Pradeep K Mohanty, gave the direction after preliminary hearing of the petition.
The case would be heard again on Monday.
Police have arrested at least 10 of the associates of Dhalasamant brothers and slapped a total seven cases against them so far, including alleged possession of counterfeit currency notes.

In a related matter, a single-judge bench of Justice B K Nayak during the day made the arrested brothers respondents in a plea by the investigating officer seeking to handcuff them during their transit on police remand.
The accused have been asked to put forth their views through their advocate on the IO's plea and would be heard on Monday.

Ever since their arrest on January 29 this year, the police have taken the brothers on remand thrice and each time a lower court here has rejected the IO's pleas to handcuff them. The lower court had also rejected the police plea to subject the brothers to polygraph test after they declined.
The city police registered yet another case against the brothers during the day under different sections of IPC after it was detected that some currency notes seized from the brothers' house turned out to be fake.
Police had claimed seizing nearly Rs 2.70 crore from their houses, out of which nearly Rs 12,000 turned out to be counterfeits after bank verifications.