SAMBALPUR: Even as the Odisha police is grappling with minister Naba Kishore Das’ murder case for close to a week, leader of Opposition Jaynarayan Mishra on Friday dropped his personal security officer (PSO) citing lack of faith in the security system.
Coming down heavily on the government for failing to solve the murder of a sitting minister, the senior BJP leader alleged that efforts are on to suppress the matter. He alleged that Odisha police under the ruling BJD has not only failed to discharge its duties, but also is involved in criminal activities. The state police is being used for various unlawful activities be it booth capturing during elections, distribution of money and liquor or suppressing criminal cases for the government.
“Under such circumstances, I cannot trust Odisha police. I have dropped my PSO provided by the government as I do not have faith that I can be saved if something unforeseen happens to me,” he said. Referring to the briefing of director general of police (DGP) Sunil Kumar Bansal on Friday, Mishra said the top police officer of the state could not answer any question satisfactorily.
Quoting the DGP who said only Lord Jagannath can predict such outcomes (the incident in which the minister was attacked and killed), Mishra asked what was the intelligence wing doing. “The state government and the Odisha police are deliberately trying to suppress the matter,” he added.
The leader of Opposition wondered how the government and Odisha police failed to solve the murder mystery, when they can do “miraculous things like performing surgery on a dead body and find pieces of letter from a septic tank.”
No faith in cops, LoP Mishra drops PSO
“They have not been able to find the bullet fired at the minister but they found remnants of a letter flushed down a septic sludge,” Mishra said. Earlier on Wednesday, the late minister’s PSO, Mitrabhanu Deo was suspended by the government.
Since the incident took place, Mishra has not only been questioning the credibility of Odisha police but also demanding a CBI inquiry into it. Mishra had also raised concern over the safety of dismissed ASI Gopal Krushna Das, who allegedly assassinated the minister, and demanded adequate security by central security forces for the accused without any delay.
Police associations take exception
The police associations on Friday demanded that LoP should take back his statement as it had affected the morale of the policemen in the state.