BHUBANESWAR: The controversy surrounding the disappearance of two crucial inquiry commission reports from the chief minister’s office (CMO) finally landed in the Capital police station with the Home department filing an FIR on Wednesday.
The complaint was filed by Home department joint secretary Sarat Chandra Marandi, alleging that the reports of the Justice AS Naidu Commission on the 2008 Kandhamal riots and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) inquiry into the 2016 SUM Hospital fire tragedy are missing from government custody.
According to the FIR, the Home department recently discovered that the two reports were not available in the CMO and could not be located despite efforts by authorities concerned.
The complaint pointed to the development around the time of government change in Odisha in 2024. It stated that several files and reports sent by the Home department to the CMO in the normal course of official business were returned on June 4, 2024, the day Assembly election results confirmed a change in government.
“However, despite the return of other files and records, the aforesaid two Judicial Commission Reports were not returned from the CMO on June 4, 2024 and are presently untraceable,” said the FIR.
Suspecting that the reports have been intentionally suppressed, the complainant said, “The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of these two reports, particularly when other files forwarded during the same period were returned, create a reasonable suspicion that the reports may have been intentionally removed, retained, concealed, destroyed or otherwise unlawfully dealt with.”
Describing the matter as one of serious public importance, the FIR noted that the missing documents are ‘important government records prepared by Judicial Commission of Inquiry’ and that their disappearance from official custody warrants a thorough investigation.
The complaint further stated that the facts disclose ‘reasonable ground for suspecting commission of cognisable offences relating to unauthorized removal, criminal breach of trust, concealment and/or destruction of official records.’
Seeking police intervention, Marandi requested registration of a criminal case to ascertain the circumstances leading to the disappearance of the reports, identify the persons responsible and take action in accordance with law.
Capital Police subsequently registered a case under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita relating to theft of official documents, criminal breach of trust by public servants and acts causing disappearance of evidence and launched an investigation.
The development comes days after Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan alleged that two commission of inquiry reports had gone missing from the CMO during the previous BJD government headed by Naveen Patnaik. Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had assured a comprehensive probe to trace the documents and identify those responsible.