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| Sanjay Satpathy. Telegraph picture |
Bhubaneswar, Dec. 13: Bhubaneswar Mahila police today arrested former Odisha Ranji cricketer Sanjay Satpathy, 33, from his in-law’s house at Nirmala village in Pipili area.
Satpathy had been absconding since November 4 after his wife Swapna Rani Satpathy lodged a complaint against him alleging dowry torture. He was sent to Jharpada special jail this afternoon after a local court rejected his bail plea.
Satpathy allegedly created a brawl at his in-law’s house last night, when his wife’s family members informed the Pipili police.
“He and two of his friends came to our house and threatened us to withdraw the case. They even attacked us. We had to inform the police,” said Swapna’s father Sarbeswar Upadhaya. The local police detained Satpathy and informed the Mahila police, who arrested him around 3am.
“The accused was heavily drunk and was harassing the family members. We conducted his medical examination and produced him in court this morning,” said Amita Tripathy, inspector in-charge of Mahila Police Station. Swapna, 27, had married the former cricketer in February 2011. They have a 10-month-old son. On November 3, Swapna complained that Satpathy had been torturing her for dowry. She also mentioned in the complaint that her in-laws had kept the child away from her. Swapna had even approached the family court seeking its intervention to get custody of the baby.
The Mahila police said that they could not trace the child despite their best efforts. “We are conducting raids and hope to trace the baby. We will produce the baby before the court once we find him,” said Amita.
Swapna, in her complaint, had alleged that the torture began soon after marriage. She had been staying with her husband and in-laws in Madhusudan Nagar here. Her father, a retired Mahanadi Coal Fields employee, said that at the time of marriage they had met the dowry demands of Satpathy’s family. “After marriage, he asked us for Rs 2 lakh more. Then he began torturing my daughter,” said the father.
The cricketer made no comments about the torture and last night’s ruckus at Swapna’s house. Satpathy was the second most successful bowler of the Odisha Ranji team after Debashis Mohanty.
In August 2009, the Odisha Cricket Association banned him for a year from all formats of the game following charges of him having given false statements to the media. He retired from cricket soon after.