On December 21, 2010, four days after the family of the 35-year-old tribal leader Bhagirathi Mandangi filed a missing person’s report following his disappearance, his brother Jagannath received a call from the local police. The news was grim — the police had found the body of a man, half-burnt and floating in the Jhanjabati River Dam in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.“By the time we saw the body, it had decomposed completely, nearly reduced to a skeleton,” Jagannath told The Indian Express. “It was difficult for us to identify that it was our brother. It was confirmed only after a DNA test.”On November 9, former Biju Janata Dal strongman and ex-MP Nakkinti Bhaskar Rao surrendered before the sub-divisional judicial magistrate over the alleged murder of Bhagirathi, a prominent tribal leader in Rayagada district and a trustee of a revered 16th-century shrine. Rao, who quit the BJD in September 2025, surrendered along with four others after the Supreme Court set aside their bail on October 26.The murder of Bhagirathi set off a chain of events – allegations of financial improprieties, questions over the police investigation, a double murder allegedly carried out in retaliation, and a protracted legal battle spanning 16 years. At the heart of it all are allegations of irregularities and misappropriation of funds from a 16th-century temple.For his part, Rao’s lawyer Naba Kumar Kanta said that the leader surrendered before the court in compliance with the Supreme Court’s direction “and was sent to judicial custody as his bail plea was rejected”. Majhighariani Temple (Express Photo)The murder of Bhagirathi MandangiA former municipal councillor of Rayagada town, Bhagirathi was a prominent tribal leader in Rayagada district and a trust member of the Majhighariani Temple, a popular 16th-century shrine built by King Vishwanath Dev Gajapati of the Suryavanshi dynasty of Nandapur-Jeypore kingdom, which draws lakhs of devotees from Odisha, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.Story continues below this adAn investigation report following the recovery of his body allegedly showed that Bhagirathi’s hands and legs were tied before he was killed. The death led to massive protests in the tribal belt, with his family alleging that Bhagirathi’s objections to the alleged misappropriation of cash and jewellery donated to the temple brought him into “direct conflict with other trust members of the temple”.On December 23, 2010, two days after Bhagirathi’s body was recovered, the Rayagada Police registered an FIR for kidnapping, murder, criminal conspiracy, disappearance of evidence and criminal liability, although no arrests were made. A complaint filed by his brother Jagannath Mandangi before Bhagirathi’s disappearance also accused the trust chairman, N Peri Raju — Rao’s brother. The complaint also alleged Rao’s links to the case. Though the FIR was initially registered against unknown persons, the names of Rao and other accused were added at a later stage.On April 5, 2011, protests by tribal outfits over the pace of the police investigation prompted the state’s then Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government to hand over the case to the Odisha Crime Branch. The Crime Branch registered the FIR on April 5.A deadly ‘revenge’ – and the long legal battleOn May 1, 2011, less than a month after the Crime Branch took over the case, another twist came in the case. Rao’s brothers, Raju and 66-year-old N Nageswar Rao Chowdhury, were attacked and killed on the temple premises. While Raju died instantly, Chowdhury died on the way to the hospital.Story continues below this adThe police arrested four people in connection with the twin murders, which investigators described as “revenge killings” for Bhagirathi’s murder. The four were subsequently acquitted for lack of evidence.Despite this, there was little progress in the probe into Bhagirathi’s killing. In 2014, the Mandangi family moved the Odisha High Court, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe. In May 2016, the Odisha High Court turned down that request but directed the Crime Branch to engage a senior officer not below the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police to conduct an impartial investigation.In August 2018, as demands for a better probe continued, senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan, then the Union Minister for Oil and Natural Gas, wrote to then Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh seeking a CBI inquiry. At the same time, tribal organisations also hit the streets and called a bandh in protest.According to a senior police officer familiar with the investigation, there were major lapses in the probe. “Various theories were floated, including the possibility that the tribal leader was killed by Maoists. The initial investigation was also marred by serious lapses. The probe team failed to collect crucial evidence, both from the crime scene and from the spot from where his body was recovered,” an officer requesting anonymity said.Story continues below this adIn January 2024, after years of stalled investigation, the Odisha Police filed a closure report in the murder case, citing insufficient evidence. Jagannath Mandangi filed a petition challenging the findings in the Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate’s Court in February 2024.In November 2024, the SDJM issued non-bailable warrants against Rao and five others, citing substantial evidence and witness statements. Rao challenged this in the Orissa High Court, which, on January 22 this year, directed them to surrender and move bail applications in the trial court.The lower court was also asked to release them on bail, subject to their furnishing bail bonds. On January 30, the Rayagada SDJM granted the accused bail.While cancelling this bail on October 26, a Supreme Court Division Bench of Justices Sanjay Kumar and Sanjeev Sachdeva said that once the High Court concluded that no case was made out for grant of anticipatory bail, it was not for the High Court to direct how the future should unfold.Story continues below this ad“The High Court not only advised the respondents as to their next course of action but also decided and dictated the terms on which they were to be granted bail by the trial Court,” read the order.The court also allowed the accused to apply for bail afresh.Who is Bhaskar RaoA founding member of the BJD, the 73-year-old Rao was once known to be close to party chief and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. His parents hailed from Tamrapalli in Andhra Pradesh and moved to Rayagada more than 50 years ago to take up sugarcane farming, a business that has since wound up.Rao holds considerable sway in the tribal-dominated Rayagada district and was a Rajya Sabha member from 2016 to 2022. Before being elected to the Upper House, he had served as the deputy chairman of the state planning board.Story continues below this adThe veteran leader was also under the scanner of the Economic Offence Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Police over the alleged misappropriation of Rs 60 crore from the Rayagada Truck Owners’ Association. The EOW recently conducted raids at 11 locations linked to Rao in connection with the case.In September 2025, unhappy with certain appointments in the party, he floated his own platform, the Biju Swabhiman Mancha. The outfit, he claimed, was meant to “safeguard the ideals of the late Biju Patnaik”.“We have no intention of joining either the Congress or the BJP,” he had said then. “The BSM is a social platform and will work for the development of Rayagada. We believe in the ideology of late Biju Babu. Leaders from all parties are welcome here.”But for the Mandangi family, even that brings little consolation. “Justice is yet to be done in my brother’s murder case. Our fight will continue until the accused are convicted by the court of law,” Jagannath said.