BHUBANESWAR: Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police Gopal Das who shot at Health and Family Welfare Minister Naba Kishore Das is being grilled by a team of Crime Branch officers on Monday.
Police sources said Crime Branch ADG Arun Bothra is interrogating ASI Gopal at Reserve Police Line in Jharsuguda district. Northern Range IG Deepak Kumar is also present.
On Monday, Brajrajnagar police station inspector-in-charge Pradyumna Swain lodged a complaint against ASI Gopal stating that the accused who opened fire on the minister from a close range near Gandhi Chowk had a clear intention to kill him.
The accused ASI's family members meanwhile have claimed he is suffering from psychological issues. They even accused his seniors of not allowing him to take leaves. Jharsuguda district's senior officers have acknowledged that the ASI was under medication but asserted that he was never denied to take leaves. An officer is allowed to take 20 casual leaves in a year. Gopal had reportedly taken 19 leaves in 2021 and 11 last year.
"Gopal Das was never denied to take casual leaves. His behaviour at the Gandhi Chowk outpost in the last few days seemed normal too," said a senior police officer.
The Crime Branch is examining whether the accused ASI is suffering from psychological issues and if he had discontinued his medication in the last few days.
"Gopal Das had joined Odisha Police as a constable in 1992. Apart from very few minor punishments, his track record has been satisfactory. He was always posted to police stations and never to the District Headquarters or the Reserve Police Lines due to lack of performance," said a senior police officer.
The health minister who was shot at was airlifted to Bhubaneswar minutes after sustaining a gunshot wound. He was admitted to Apollo Hospitals where he succumbed to his injuries last Sunday evening.
Considered a close confidant of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, Naba Kishore Das, who took oath as a minister of health and family welfare on May 29, 2019, continued in the same portfolio even when the chief minister came up with an overhaul of his cabinet last June.
Das is survived by wife Minati Das and a son and a daughter.