Bhubaneswar, November 9:Former Rajya Sabha MP N. Bhaskar Rao surrendered before the Rayagada Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) Court on Monday in connection with the 2010 murder of Bhagirathi Mandangi, following the Supreme Court's decision to cancel his anticipatory bail. He was subsequently sent to Rayagada Sub-Jail.

The Supreme Court had overturned the anticipatory bail granted to Rao by the Orissa High Court on January 22, 2026, directing him to surrender before the SDJM Court within two weeks. The order came while hearing a petition filed by the original complainant, Jagannath Mandangi, challenging the High Court's decision.

Ahead of his surrender, hundreds of supporters reportedly gathered at Rao's residence to express their solidarity with the former MP.

Apart from Rao, Eipili Sanyasi Raju, Adinarayan Rao, K. Krishna Rao and P. Dileep Kumar have also been named as accused in the murder case. An FIR was initially registered at Rayagada police station on December 23, 2010, vide Case No. 208/2010, under Sections 120-B, 302, 201, 364 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code, relating to criminal conspiracy, murder, destruction of evidence, kidnapping and common intention.

The investigation was later handed over to the Crime Branch, which registered the case as No. 10/2011 at the CID-CB police station in Cuttack on April 5, 2011.

Meanwhile, Rao is also under investigation in a separate financial irregularities case. On November 7, a team of the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) conducted simultaneous searches at 11 locations associated with him over allegations of misappropriation of around Rs 60 crore belonging to the Truck Owners' Association. The case was initially registered at Rayagada police station.

Rao has been active in non-Congress politics for more than five decades. He resigned from the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) last year and subsequently formed the Biju Swabhiman Manch. He had also announced plans to field candidates in the forthcoming panchayat elections.

Rao's surrender in the long-pending murder case has drawn considerable attention across Odisha's political circles, particularly in view of the Supreme Court's intervention and the separate EOW investigation.