The Parlakhemundi royal palace’s former manager Anang Manjari Patra, who was at the centre of the controversy for allegedly keeping Parala Maharaja Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deb under house arrest for years, allegedly committed suicide along with her two siblings here at her Jagama Street house.
She and her sister Bijaylaxmi Patra took the drastic step by consuming poison while the body of her brother Sanjay Patra was found hanging in the same room.
However, another brother of Anang Manjari, Santosh (Tulu) Patra, was rescued in a critical condition and admitted at the MKCG Medical College Hospital in Brahmapur.
Foul smell emanating from the room since morning forced locals to inform police to break open the room.
“Prima facie, it is a case of suicide. However, the exact reason of the deaths will be ascertained after postmortem. Investigation is on into the incident,” said Gajapati district SP Sushil Panigrahi.
Anang Manjari had not allowed anybody, including Gopinath Gajapati’s relatives, to meet him. On August 19, in a letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, the Maharaja’s daughter Kalyani Gajapati, who is currently attending the ailing Maharaja at a hospital in Chennai, had urged to inquire into the property transactions of the royal family over the past 35 years.
local leaders cutting across party lines led by Parlakhemundi Congress MlA K Surya Rao had also demanded arrest of the palace manager.
Meanwhile, kin of the deceased manager held the MlA and a certain TV channel for the suicide of the siblings.