Berhampur: Police on Wednesday arrested the cook of assistant conservator of forests (ACF) Soumya Ranjan Mohapatra in connection with his death due to severe burn injuries in July 2021.The accused, Manmath Kumbha (42), was arrested from Karadasingh village under R Udayagiri police station limits while a non-bailable warrant (NBW) issued against him was pending execution.The sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM), Paralakhemundi, had issued the warrant on Aug 14 last year in connection with the case. After his arrest, Kumbha was produced before the court, which remanded him in judicial custody till Oct 12, sources said.“Acting on a tip-off about his whereabouts, a police team conducted an early morning raid and nabbed him from his village,” said Paralakhemundi IIC Prasant Bhupati.Kumbha is one of the three accused in the case relating to the death of Mohapatra, who succumbed to severe burn injuries at a private hospital in Cuttack on July 12, 2021, a day after sustaining burns at his official residence in Paralakhemundi.Following an FIR lodged by the deceased officer’s father, Abhiram Panda, on July 14, 2021, police had registered a case against Kumbha, former Paralakhemundi DFO Sangram Keshari Behera, and Mohapatra’s wife, Bidya Bharati Panda.The complainant alleged that his son’s death was not accidental but the result of a conspiracy. The state govt subsequently handed over the investigation to the crime branch.Behera, currently posted as director of Odisha Forest Development Corporation (OFDC), was remanded in judicial custody after his bail plea was rejected on July 28 following his surrender before the SDJM court in compliance with a direction of Orissa high court.In a related development, Supreme Court has dismissed a special leave petition filed by Bidya Bharati Panda challenging the high court’s direction asking her to appear before the trial court by Oct 1. However, the apex court granted her liberty to seek anticipatory bail, sources said.