Naba Das Murder: Efforts To Prove Gopal Das Mental Patient A Plan To Relax Punishment, Says Former DGP

Bhubaneswar: It is a deliberate plan of Odisha government to prove Gopal Das, the only accused in the murder of minister Naba Kishore Das, as a mental patient to make the court take a lenient view on his crime, said former DGP and BJP leader Prakash Mishra on Thursday.

Speaking to media person in the BJP headquarters in Bhubaneswar, Mishra said, “I have gone through the media reports and have been closely observing the developments after the murder of the minister. I feel that the prosecution will present before the court that since Gopal is a mental patient, his punishment can be relaxed.”

The former DGP said in a murder case, the cause and time of the victim’s death are deciding factors to prove the accused guilty in the court. “So far as the cause in this case is considered, the bullet that was fired at the minister pierced the left ventricle of his heart. Though I have not seen the post-mortem report, it has been revealed to the media by the investigating agency. However, in such cases, the death is instantaneous. But everybody knows that Naba Das was brought to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar after the firing and his death was announced at 7 pm,” he said.

He further said while the police are yet to find the bullet that pierced Naba Das heart, the announcement of his death was delayed to save dismissed ASI Gopal.

“Now Gopal can tell the court that if he fired at Naba, where is the bullet? Besides, if his bullet pierced the miniter’s heart, he would have died instantly. Since Naba was alive till 7 pm, he did not die due to firing from Gopal’s gun. About his presence near the minister, Gopal can say that when he heard the gun firing, he rushed to the place to find out what happened. Since Naba was taken to Bhubaneswar, he does not know how he died,” said the BJP leader.

Mishra also raised several questions on the investigation into the sensational case. “Who is responsible for the delay in announcing Naba’s death? Have police investigated into it? Has the change in the time of death been brought under purview of the probe?” he asked.

He further said as per the law, suppression of time of death in a murder case is a grave offense. Whoever is involved in this would face the charge of concealing evidence under Section 201 of IPC.

Considering all these factors, the BJP demands investigation into the case by an impartial agency like CBI so that the truth can be revealed about all the factors including the accused, conspiracy, execution and motive, he added.