Missing Pen Drive Claim Adds Twist To Pitabas Panda Murder Case

Bhubaneswar: New controversy arose in the murder case of BJP leader and advocate Pitabas Panda after a defense lawyer claimed that important digital evidence mentioned in the indictment was not presented to the court.

Advocate Deepak Pattnaik, representing the accused Bikram Panda, claimed that investigators found a pen drive containing objectionable photographs in a secret room in the late leader’s residence in Berhampur, but the material was not produced as evidence during court proceedings.

According to Pattnaik, during the investigation following Pitabas Panda’s death, the key to the room was allegedly found tied to Pitabas Panda’s sacred thread. The police later opened the room in the presence of his wife Sushmita and recovered the pen drive, he said.

The defense lawyer claimed that the storage device contained four photographs showing his client with a woman. He questioned why, despite references to the material in the indictment, it had not been formally presented to the court.

“Although the recovery of the pen drive and its contents has been mentioned in the charge sheet, the same has not been submitted to the court,” Pattnaik told reporters, seeking clarification from the investigating agency.

There was no response to the allegations from the police or Pitabas Panda’s family members. Authorities also have not publicly confirmed the status of the alleged digital evidence.

The allegations have added a new layer of complexity to a high-profile murder investigation that has already attracted public attention.