Kolkata:
Raghunath Mohanty, the former law minister of Odisha accused of dowry harassment by his daughter-in-law, was arrested in Kolkata this morning. He had been on the run for the last two weeks. His wife has been arrested as well. They were produced at a Balasore court and have been remanded to judicial custody. Their bail plea will be heard on April 2.
Reacting to the arrest, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said, "The law will take its course and the matter will be looked into closely."
Mr Mohanty's son, Raja Shree Mohanty, was arrested on March 16 on charges of torturing his wife for dowry. The Balasore court today extended his judicial custody by another 14 days. He has already spent two weeks in jail after the same court denied him bail.
Raja Shree Mohanty's wife Barsa Swony Choudhury has accused him and his parents of torturing her for dowry since they got married in June last year.
Her police complaint forced Raghunath Mohanty, who held the law, urban development and information technology portfolios, to resign from the Naveen Patnaik government earlier this month.