Bhubaneswar, Oct 1 (IANS): In a major development, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday gave a clean chit to senior Biju Janata Dal leader and former law minister Pratap Jena in the sensational Mahanga double murder case.

“The court said that the entire criminal proceedings against Pratap Jena was quashed. The order against which we have approached the high court has now been quashed,” said Jena’s lawyer Anshuman Ray.

Jena was the accused number 13 in the double murder case that took place at Mahanga in Cuttack district in 2021. The local police had excluded the name of Jena while filing the first charge sheet in the case.

Subsequently, the victim Kulamani Baral's son approached the Salipur JMFC court seeking the inclusion of Jena’s name.

The court on the basis of statements of the complainant, witnesses, and other available materials on record ordered that a prima facie case punishable for the offences under sections 302, 506, 120 B of the IPC is made against accused Jena on October 31, 2023.

The court directed the local police to reinvestigate the case against Jena.

Subsequently, the senior BJD leader moved the High Court against the lower court's order.

Hearing the petition filed by Jena, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday quashed the order of the Salipur JMFC court.

"The political conspiracy had been hatched to defame for the last two years has fallen flat and the high court gave a clean chit to me today," an elated Jena told on Tuesday.

Notably, BJP leader Kulamani Baral, who was the block chairman of Mahanga, and his associate Dibyasingha Baral were brutally murdered in Mahanga in 2021.

Later, the prime accused in the case, Prafulla Biswal, was found dead under mysterious circumstances near the Govindpur area in Tangi of Cuttack district