Following a rumour that Parala Maharaja Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deb has been kept in captivity for over two years by his lady manager and her brother, about 2,000 local residents belonging to different walks of life gathered at the palace and demanded that the king be freed and captivators are arrested soon.
The locals soon formed a safety committee for the Maharaja under chairmanship of local MlA K Surya Rao and sat in front of the palace placing the demands.
Committee members also lodged an FIR at the Paralakhemundi police station alleging that Gopinath Gajapati’s manager Anang Manjari Patra and her brother Sanjay Kumar Patra have fraudulently registered the king’s valuable properties in their names and they have captivated him for fear that the matter might come to public notice. They further mentioned that the king is ailing and not being provided medicine properly.
They wanted that the kind be sent outside for better treatment and the whole allegation be probed properly by a special commission so that the truth would come out.
Meanwhile, a medical team led by CDMO Purna Chandra Kora went to the palace and examined the Maharaja’s health.
In her reaction, Gajapati’s manager said medicines are being given to him regularly. He has been weak mentally since his lone son died a year ago.
It may be noted that Gopinath Gajapati, grandson of late Krushna Chandra Gajapati, was an MP winning from the Brahmapur lok Sabha seat twice (1989 and 1991) on Congress tickets. later, he switched over to the BJP and then to the ruling BJD.