This Article is From Sep 05, 2009

Biranchi murder: Witnesses name key accused

Orissa:

Eyewitnesses in the sensational Biranchi Das murder case have told a fast track court in Bhubaneswar that they have seen gangster Raja shooting at Biranchi.

He was the coach and foster father of wonder marathon kid Buddhia Singh.

As many as eight witnesses, including Biranchi's widow Geetanjali, have deposed before the court in the first round of hearing that ended on Friday.

Raja Acharya, the prime accused in the murder case was produced before a fast track court in Bhubaneswar.

The trial began on Tuesday after the Orissa High Court ordered a speedy trial of the case within four months.

Biranchi was shot dead allegedly by gangster Raja in April last year. His widow told the court she had seen Raja shooting her husband from a very close range.

"Raja Acharya killed my husband in front of my eyes. I have told before the court how he pumped three bullets into his body and every other detail that I remembered of that fateful evening," Geetanjali said.

Acharya, who was arrested in Goa, has been in jail for over a year now. Three of the five eye-witnesses have told court he killed Biranchi, a charge his lawyer denies.

Banbehari Mohanty, Raja's Counsel said, "They have scripted an imaginary story about how my client shot Biranchi dead. They never said so on the day of occurrence. Five days later they fabricated it. I think my client will be set free."

A senior IAS officer and a model are among the 49 witnesses in the case. So far, eight of them have testified in court.

.