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Time of India
5 days ago
- Politics
- Time of India
HC grants bail to ITR espionage accused
Cuttack: In a development related to Chandipur espionage case, the Orissa high court granted bail to Basanta Kumar Behera, a contractual air conditioning operator at the Integrated Test Range (ITR), Chandipur, who had been in custody since Sept 2021 for allegedly spying for a Pakistani agent. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Behera was one of four DRDO contractual employees arrested in the sensational case that was initially investigated by the state police and later transferred to the State CID-Crime Branch. The case involved allegations of leaking sensitive missile testing information to a foreign handler. Justice Gourishankar Satapathy, while granting bail on July 1, underscored the importance of the constitutional right to a speedy trial under Article 21. The court observed, "If the state is unable to provide a speedy trial, it should not oppose the plea of bail merely on the ground that the crime committed is serious." The court noted that Behera had earlier availed interim bail on two occasions without violating any of the imposed conditions. Considering his prolonged incarceration, his compliant conduct during interim release, and the bail already granted to co-accused Sachin Kumar Chhata and Tapas Ranjan Nayak, the court found sufficient grounds to approve Behera's bail application. Advocate Ashutosh Mishra, appearing on Behera's behalf, confirmed that all necessary procedures are being expedited for his client's release. "As of now, Basanta Kumar Behera is in Balasore Jail. We are in the process of fulfilling the bail conditions, and he is expected to be released within a day or two," Mishra told TOI on Monday. Behera was granted bail on a personal bond of Rs 5 lakh with two solvent sureties. He has been directed to report to the local police station once every fortnight for the next six months, preferably on Sundays. Additionally, he must not leave the jurisdiction of the trial court without prior permission and is required to submit his current residential address, mobile number, and other relevant details to both the court and investigating agency. The trial, currently pending before the 3rd additional sessions judge in Balasore, has made little progress in the past nearly four years.
Time of India
11-06-2025
- Time of India
HC grants bail to 23 accused in multi-crore WA trading scam
1 2 Cuttack: Orissa high court has granted regular bail to 23 people accused in a multi-crore WhatsApp trading scams involving laundering defrauded funds through their bank accounts. Acting on a complaint lodged by a person allegedly cheated online of Rs 6.28 crores the State CID-Crime Branch's Cyber police station in Cuttack registered an FIR on Aug 24, 2024 and in course of investigation arrested all the 23 accused. Their bail pleas were taken up by the HC's vacation court on Monday following direction of the Supreme Court to the HC on May 30 to decide them expeditiously. While the bail applications were pending since Dec 2024, one of them sought the SC's intervention against the delay. Upon a detailed examination of the case diary, materials collected during the investigation, and the preliminary chargesheet, the vacation bench of Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra observed that while the offence involves a large-scale scam, there is prima facie evidence suggesting that the petitioners may have been used as instruments by the main perpetrators. Justice Mohapatra noted that the accused were possibly lured with small commissions, while their bank accounts were used as "mule accounts" to siphon off money from the complainant. The court found that the funds initially credited into the petitioners' accounts were subsequently transferred to other individuals. Apart from the disputed transactions, their bank accounts did not reflect any other high-value activity. Though some petitioners are reportedly involved in similar cases, the court found that the bank statements filed did not conclusively establish their specific roles in the scam. Taking into account the available material evidence, the filing of the preliminary chargesheet, and the duration of judicial custody undergone by the petitioners, the court opined that their further custodial interrogation is not essential. Recognizing the common nature of the allegations and the fact that all bail applications stem from the same FIR, Justice Mohapatra granted bail to all 23 petitioners in a single order with varying bail conditions based on the individual's criminal history and the amount of money linked to each case. The bail was granted to them with conditions to furnish bail bonds ranging from Rs 30,000 to Rs 1 lakh with two local solvent sureties each. Additionally, several of them were required to submit cash securities or bank guarantees ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 15 lakh. The bail conditions included depositing these amounts in nationalised banks or furnishing bank guarantees in favour of the trial court. BOX How the scam operated? According to the complaint, a retired individual was duped of Rs 6.28 crore after being added to a WhatsApp group named as an Investment Club, administered by a person using a US number. Posing as investment advisors, the group lured him with daily stock discussions and fake IPO deals. Convinced by fabricated profits, he invested his retirement corpus into shares of a fictitious company and was shown massive gains. However, repeated demands for hefty service charges and withdrawal fees led to further losses. Ultimately, the victim was removed from the group, the app was deactivated, and no funds were returned. An FIR has been registered, and police are investigating what appears to be a sophisticated online fraud masquerading under a reputed brand name.
