Odisha man, jailed for decades over bombing, sentenced afresh for another threat

Previously sentenced to 20 years in prison for two separate cases of hurling bombs on court premises, an Odisha man—who appears to harbour a grudge against the judiciary and prefers life behind bars—has now been convicted in a fresh ‘bomb hurling threat’ case.

The convict, Upendra Mohanty, aged about 78 years, was previously sentenced to 10 years in prison by Patiala House Court in 2006 for hurling a bomb near the C-Gate of the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Khordha court handed him another 10-year sentence for throwing two crude bombs at a CBI Special Judge. Before these incidents, he had also assaulted a judge and served seven years in jail.

Professing to be a follower of Netaji Subash Bose, the man boasts of having spent 46 years behind bar, was sentenced nine months of simple imprisonment under section 506 of IPC by a local court in Cuttack on February 6. He was held guilty for threatening to bomb afresh.

The conviction was based on a threat issued by the man to bomb undisclosed location. On February 15, 2024, senior superintendent of Choudwar jail had filed a police complaint stating that he had received a letter from Mohanty who threatened to bomb again. In the letter, the convict had intimated the same to Chief Justice of Orissa High Court. Since the man had previous history of hurling bombs, police took the investigation seriously.

The man belongs to Sarangpur village under Byree police Station in Jajpur district. “As part of the investigation, we visited his village and attempted to speak with his close relatives. None of them knew where he had spent all these years. He remains unmarried. There were sketchy details of his previous convictions in bomb hurling cases,” said Niranjan Bhoi, investigating officer in the case. Afroz Ahmed, a public prosecutor, handled the court case on behalf of government.