As mystery continued to shroud the January 29 murder of Health Minister Naba Kisore Das by an Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of Police at Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district, Opposition BJP and Congress leaders on Tuesday questioned the silence of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Director General of Police (DGP) Sunil Bansal over the incident.
The Opposition leaders asked that though it is claimed that ASI Gopal Krushna Das suffers from bipolar disorder, a condition of mental sickness, why was he given crucial responsibility at the Brajarajangar outpost?
BJP State president Samir Mohanty said, “It seems that the Odisha Government has now slipped into a state of coma. A Cabinet Minister was killed by a subordinate police officer. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who holds Home portfolio, owes an answer to people on this. The CM and the DGP have kept mum and none of them has visited the crime spot. The Home Secretary has also maintained silence on the issue.”
Mohanty said the ASI was awarded many times in the past few years by the Government and it is unclear what prompted him to fire at the Minister.
Questioning the rationale behind the Crime Branch (CB) probe into the murder, he said, “How can we expect that the CB, which is a branch of State police, will bring out the truth when the crime has been committed by its own man? We demand a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).”
Congress leader Sudarsan Das too raised questions on the Government’s move to hand over the case to the Crime Branch. “People are asking why the DGP and the CM have maintained silence on the sensitive issue. The Crime Branch has failed to unravel the mysteries behind several cases in the past. This time, it is also a conspiracy to suppress the truth,” said Das.
Das further demanded that the Government order a Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe under the supervision of a sitting High Court Judge.
However, in response, senior BJD leader Debi Prasad Mishra said, "Instead of making allegations, the Opposition should advise what to do as they always have problems in police and Crime Branch investigation.”
Mishra claimed that the entire investigation would be transparent as the Crime Branch investigation would be monitored by the judiciary. “The Opposition should wait for the outcome of the probe,” Mishra added.
BJD leader Srimayee Mishra said, “When the State is mourning the death of Naba Das, the BJP State president held a Press meet where he raised some unfounded allegations. This speaks volumes about their political motive.”
Amid this rising controversy, the Government shunted Jharsuguda Superintendent of Police (SP) Rahul Jain out from his position and shifted him to the office of SP, Headquarters.
Parmar Smit Parshottamdas, SP, Bargarh, was posted as the Jharsuguda SP. Boudh SP Prahalad Sahai was appointed as Bargarh SP while Raj Prasad, Additional SP of Rayagada, was posted as Boudh SP.