BHUBANESWAR/JHARSUGUDA: In a significant development, the state Crime Branch has restarted its investigation into the murder of former Health minister and senior BJD leader Naba Kishore Das, which took place on January 29, 2023.
Making an announcement in this regard in the Assembly on Tuesday, Law Minister Prithiviraj Harichandan said a two-member team of the CB visited the residence of Das at Sarbahal in Jharsuguda to record the statements of his family members.
The team comprising additional SP Vijay Mallick and DSP Diptimayee Mallick visited the family’s residence at Sarbahal in Jharsuguda on the day and spent seven hours documenting the statements of Dipali, who was the BJD MLA from Jharsuguda after the death of her father, and son Bishal.
The CB has already submitted the chargesheet in a trial court at Jharsuguda against assistant sub-inspector of police Gopal Das, who had allegedly shot Das dead at Gandhi Chowk under Brajrajnagar police station while he was stepping out of his car to attend a party event on the fateful day.
The announcement of the minister follows a request from Minati Das, wife of the late minister, who had sought a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to demand a CBI inquiry.
Stating that the CB would do the probe thoroughly and professionally to unearth the motive behind the murder, Harichandan said the previous BJD government had failed to provide justice to the family members of a former cabinet minister. “As a minister was brutally killed, people of the state have a right to know who were behind the incident. The investigating team will decide on how to proceed with the probe,” he added.
The minister said the CB will probe different angles of the murder case which was not conducted properly during the previous government’s regime. “The investigation was misled under the BJD dispensation. Our government has decided to pursue the case and engage CB in a fresh investigation,” he stated.
The minister said the government has faith in the CB’s capability to conduct a proper investigation. The probe will be conducted in a transparent manner, he said.
Meanwhile, the BJD has condemned the announcement as a political gimmick. “The BJP which was in Opposition then had claimed that the investigation was not conducted in a proper manner by the CB and demanded a CBI probe. But now, it has ordered a fresh probe by the same agency,” BJD MLA Goutam Buddha Das said.
CM Majhi to meet Minati Das today
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi will meet Minati Das, wife of slain minister Naba Kishore Das on Wednesday. Minati had sought appointment to meet the chief minister through email and letter by post to discuss investigation into the murder of her husband. The family has sought a CBI probe.