Puri IIC, on the run for 7 months in drugs case, surrenders

Koraput: Nearly seven months after he went absconding in connection with an NDPS case, Rajesh Baliarsingh, the suspended inspector in-charge (IIC) of Astaranga police station in Puri district, on Monday surrendered before the district judges court in Jeypore.Baliarsingh is accused of having links with an illegal cannabis trafficking network and allegedly providing shelter to ganja smugglers.A case under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act had been registered against him at Jeypore town police station, police said.Last year, in the first week of Aug, a police team, led by the then Jeypore SDPO, Partha Kashyap, travelled to Bhubaneswar to interrogate Baliarsingh over his alleged nexus with persons involved in the illicit cannabis trade. However, during questioning at a police station in Bhubaneswar, he reportedly managed to give the police the slip and fled.After remaining on the run for months, Baliarsingh moved the Orissa high court and sought relief. Acting on the court’s direction, he appeared before the Jeypore district judges court and formally surrendered.His counsel, P Ramesh Patra, said, “Baliarsingh had secured bail from the high court and, in compliance with its directive, presented himself before the district court and furnished the bail bond. The district court subsequently imposed conditions and granted him bail.”Patra added that the court has directed Baliarsingh to remain physically present during hearings, refrain from maintaining any contact with the accused ganja traffickers and cooperate fully with the investigating officer during the course of the probe, among other conditions.Baliarsingh had previously served in several police stations across Koraput district, including Jeypore and Koraput, as well as in parts of Rayagada.