SAMBALPUR: Odisha police suspended the personal security officer (PSO) of slain minister Naba Kishore Das and transferred two more cops of Jharsuguda on Wednesday. The minister’s PSO Mitrabhanu Deo was placed under suspension for dereliction of duty. Similarly, Brajrajnagar IIC Pradyumna Kumar Swain and in-charge of Gandhi Chowk police outpost SI Sashibhusan Podha were transferred. ASI Gopal Das, the cop who shot the minister with his service revolver, was posted in the police outpost.
IIC Swain and SI Podha have been transferred to Sambalpur and Subarnapur police headquarters respectively. Swain had sustained a bullet injury while trying to overpower the accused ASI after he fired at the minister. On the day of the incident, the IIC also lodged an FIR against Gopal.
On Tuesday, the state government transferred Jharsuguda SP Rahul Jain and SDPO Gupteswar Bhoi.
Meanwhile, the JMFC court of Brajrajnagar granted the Crime Branch four days’ remand of the accused ASI. Remand advocate Harishankar Agrawal said the case was registered against the accused under section 307 of the IPC only. But he was forwarded with the additional imposition of section 302 of the IPC and section 27 of the Arms Act.
“The Crime Branch had requested the court for seven-day remand but I raised an objection. Following the hearing, the court granted a remand for four days from Wednesday. Our bail plea was also rejected. We do not have any evidence of the accused being mentally ill. If that is ascertained in the reports, we will again apply for bail. As of now, there is no such ground,” Agarwal added.
Official sources said following his remand, the accused cop was taken to OSAP Battalion in Jharsuguda. His medical examination was conducted there. On the day, new Jharsuguda SP Smit P Parmar took charge in the afternoon.