Bhubaneswar/Balasore, March 30: Former law minister Raghunath Mohanty and his wife Pritilata had to call an end to their shopping spree as Odisha cops knocked on their doors and whisked them away to Balasore from their hideout at Shibpur in Howrah, a few kilometres from Calcutta.

Additional director-general of police B.K. Sharma today said his team, with the help of Bengal police, arrested the couple from a house at Shibpur in Howrah.

The couple had been wanted in the case of dowry torture on their daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhary.

“A team of the Odisha CID sought assistance to arrest Raghunath Mohanty, who was hiding in a flat at Shibpur. The CID picked him and his wife from the flat early on Saturday morning,” said Howrah police commissioner Ajay Ranade.

The couple were staying in a flat on the first floor of Block A of a housing complex named Shantikunj.

“They had come in a red Bolero and gone out for shopping at least on four occasions in the past two days. The car had an Odisha number plate,” a security guard of Shantikunj said. The police have recovered utensils and other household goods from flat that the couple were apparently using during their stay. The Odisha police team has also seized the Bolero.

Neighbour R.K. Jha, who lives in a flat on the same floor, recalled to have seen the couple keeping to themselves.

“I have seen them once or twice, but I did not see them speak with anyone here,” Jha told The Telegraph.

Sources in Shibpur police station said preliminary investigation revealed that the couple had not hired any domestic help and used to do their chores such as cooking and shopping by themselves. They had moved into the flat two days ago.

Mohanty has not been not produced in any court in Bengal, said Howrah police sources, which claimed that the Odisha police directly took them back within hours of their arrest here.

The two accused persons were brought to Balasore, where the case was registered, and sent to jail. Sub-divisional judicial magistrate will hear their petition on April 2.

“The court has fixed April 2 for consideration of their bail petitions and also sought the status of investigation from the human rights protection cell under the crime branch of Odisha police,” said assistant public prosecutor Arun Behera.

Mohanty tendered his resignation from the Naveen Patnaik government soon after his daughter-in-law Barsa Swony Choudhury had lodged the complaint of dowry and harassment.

She had named Raghunath, his wife, her husband, her sister-in-law and brother-in-law in her complaint as her tormentors. Her husband Raja Shree was arrested on March 17 and has been lodged in Balasore jail.

The police are yet to arrest Raghunath’s daugther Rupa Shree and her husband Subhendu Madhual.

Additional DGP Sharma said: “It took time to nab Mohanty as he had tried all means to avoid the arrest. He had been frequently changing his mobile phones. We succeeded after physical verification of various flats at Shalimar with the help of the Howrah police commissioner.”

The police said Mohanty had taken two flats on rent — one for himself and another for his driver.

During the investigation, the police found a vehicle bearing Odisha registration number, which was frequenting the flats. Later, the team zeroed in on the flats and arrested Mohanty and his wife.

Reacting to the arrest of the former minister and his wife, Barsa said: “The police must arrest my sister-in-law Rupa Shree Madhual and her husband Subhendu Madhual.” Subhendu, a government doctor posted at a district headquarters hospital, is on leave.

“Madhual has gone on leave from March 15,” said additional district medical officer Mahesh Biswal. The couple’s whereabouts are yet to be ascertained.

In a related development, Raja Shree was produced in the SDJM court today after completion of 14 days in remand. He was remanded further in judicial custody. His fresh bail petition would be heard in the sessions court on April 3.

The Opposition slammed the police for delaying the arrest of the former law minister. Ridiculing chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s claim of delivering justice, senior BJP leader Biswa Bhusana Harichandan said: “Law failed to take its own course in this high-profile case.”

State Congress president Niranjan Patnaik demanded establishment of a fast track court to deal with Barsa’s dowry torture case.