File picture of Maheshwar Mohanty being rushed to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after he was shot at in Puri on February 21

Bhubaneswar, March 2: Laxmipriya Mohapatra, wife of Guna Singhari who was shot dead in 2012, today denied the involvement of her mother-in-law Saradhamani Dei, in the attack on state law and tourism minister Maheshwar Mohanty.

Mohapatra alleged that there was a political conspiracy behind the arrest of Dei.

“My mother-in-law is not linked to the attack on the minister but the police deliberately implicated her in the case. A number of land mafia and affluent politicians were involved in killing my husband. But the police arrested a few henchmen of those affluent persons,” alleged Mohapatra.

Earlier police had arrested five accused and the mother of Guna Singhari, alias Talachu Bhagaban Mohapatra, in connection with the attack on the minister on February 21.

The police have also said that the attack on the minister was the fallout of the Guna Singhari murder case.

On the other hand, lawyer for Dei and the other accused said that he would move the court tomorrow challenging the decision of Puri police to arrest his client on charges of conspiracy.

“The police have arrested my client due to political pressure. The manner in which my client, who is a 70-year-old woman, was forcefully arrested was illegal,” said lawyer Biranchi Narayan Das.

On the other hand, Puri police have intensified their efforts to nab other suspected persons involved in the firing on Mohanty. The police are going through the call details of other known criminals in the town to find out if they were involved in the attack on the minister.

“We will apply in the court to take all the accused arrested so far in remand. We are also trying to verify involvement of others in the attack,” said Puri superintendent of police Anup Kumar Sahoo.