Ghastly Naba murder has many loose ends to put together
Veer Surendra Sai Institute of Medical Science and Research (VIMSAR), a premiere medical college hospital, is considered pride of western Odisha mainly because of its revamped infrastructure and state-of-the-art healthcare gadgetry and equipments. The big facelift project was executed at a cost of 150 crore rupees, Rs 80 crore for civil construction and Rs 70 crore for latest medical machinery. The great institution has never been deprived of super medicos at any given point in time. The facelift project was implemented under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surksha Yojana. More significantly, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences of Bhubaneswar is the nodal centre of the super-speciality wing of this hospital. Everything big and perfect was brought in place at the VIMSAR to bring the dead back to life.
Yet when a high-profile businessman-politician was shot by an assassin from a dangerously close range, the victim was not rushed to the VIMSAR. The super brains kept losing time insanely by fetching a helicopter from some goddamn distant location to fly him to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar thereby losing precious little time left in hand. As medical science goes, a bullet-injured living being needs to be given such instant treatment as would stop bleeding as alarming blood loss would cause death no matter how best medicines given or surgery performed. This procedure of blood-saving was not religiously followed. An ordinary street guy would know that only one hour at the most is available after getting a heart puncturing bullet shot. Shockingly, the bleeding patient was subject to shunting from place in the name of organising the best treatment under the sun. The medical authorities simply kept playing with the victim's life because they were afraid of being blamed for not having been able to save the ‘larger than life' of a figure.
The biggest irony is Naba Das, who was the Health Minister, had ensured that the big medical college in his region had the best lifesaving outfit. The VIMSAR, which shaped up under direct supervision of the popular minister, lost the opportunity to prove its worth. The shaky doctors virtually pushed him away to death. They had believably never ever told once that bleeding would have to be stopped first at the local super-specialty VIMSAR; and after stabilising on the dangerous bleeding front, any required surgery could be performed. When they landed at the Apollo Hospitals in Bhubaneswar, the doctors there reportedly murmured in disgust, “They have brought a dead body only to prove we are incapable of saving a life.” The whole world knows the body of Naba Das had gone lifeless quite in the first hour. The great VIMSAR could not save a bullet victim, who had a great role in putting it up.
So naturally, apart from the public mourning, there is also an ear-splitting public outcry as to how a premium-grade government medical facility has failed miserably to save the precious life of a popular Cabinet Minister. The ordinary mortals are scared to visit the VIMSAR not only for its incapability but also for the headless medicos taking horrifically-erroneous decisions. This frightening message has spread like wild fire and caused big panic among the ordinary mortals across western Odisha. It seems Rs 150 crore went down the dirtiest drain two years ago.
The assassination issue is enormously intriguing too. Everyone with a thinking head reads easily into the crime part per se. There is hardly any investigation to be made as the killer is not a suspect but an established murderer who committed the gruesome crime in broad daylight in full public glare. The weapon has been seized and the assassin has coolly confessed to having killed the popular billionaire Minister. The only thing police have to do is to follow the routine criminal investigation procedures as laid down in books for the sake of records.
The Crime Branch police geniuses are dragging the assassin, an unfortunate dismissed serving police officer, from place to place on remand with hardly any unknown facts. Strangely, they seem to be wasting time on trying to find out who the murderer is. The only thing they have to do is crack the accomplish angle. Some business rivals seem to have played the game very cleverly. They may have hatched a conspiracy by bribing heavily a serving police officer to turn assassin. But this theory holds no good until the mystery is unravelled by the Crime Branch. But as is evident, political opponents in Odisha would not get into complications of killing someone. Business enemies with political inclinations seem to be bigger suspects. Some close people are persuaded to believe that the Assistant Sub Inspector of Police may have been hurt by late Naba's highhanded behaviour or maybe he had been planted by exceedingly aggrieved business opponents who had lost all hopes of fixing him any other way. Gopal Das, the assassin is cool about his deed. So, the Crime Branch super sleuths need not waste time taking him to the spot to recreate scenes of murder. Such theatrics are done only if the act were committed secretly away from public glare. So, to get to know from the nabbed criminal how the whole thing had happened, he is asked to replay the act on the exact spot where the investigating guys read more and dig sense to arrive at an indisputable conclusion. So, such theatrics indicate the investigating police officials are as unsure as the VIMSAR super medicos who let a precious life leave the body sooner than usual.
A sane thing the Odisha Government has done is to have appointed a retired judicial luminary only to make sure the police super brains are not fleecing the public.
There are rumours and stories making round in social media to indicate Naba Das was a bad man. He had turned a mafioso with ill-gotten big money. They also talk about his torture techniques used with the power of money and lately high political status for anyone who came in the way of his business or political machinations. So after becoming part of the ruling outfit, his ruthlessness went beyond limits. All the same, these allegations are only hypotheses and not the proven truth. The responsibilities of the smart Crime Branch officials are now bigger as they have to satisfy the world by unravelling the mystery and bring to light the plain truth.
All said and done, it is an established fact that the world has become a violent place to live in. For money, power and avenging little wrongs, ordinary mortals can commit any crime!