Odisha Congress Prez Sarat Pattanayak Questions CB Probe Into Naba Das Murder

Bhubaneswar: While Odisha DGP stoked controversy with his statement that only Lord Jagannath could have anticipated the killing of Health Minister Naba, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattanayak on Sunday said that leaving everything on the Lord is not acceptable.

Hinting at a bigger conspiracy in the murder, he questioned Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s silence over the issue. “The CM, who also holds the Home portfolio, has failed to protect his own cabinet minister. It is for the first time in Odisha’s history that a police officer has shot dead a minister,” he said.

The OPCC president also expressed dissatisfaction with the ongoing Crime Branch investigation. “It is hard to believe that the 22 pieces of paper of the handwritten letter recovered as claimed by Crime Branch from the spectic tank are intact. It seems like they are weaving some kind of story to hoodwink people as a clear picture is yet to emerge even a week after the incident, ” he said.

He further said efforts are on to project the accused cop as mentally unstable. “If the state government is incapable of conducting a detailed investigation, it should do so under the supervision of a sitting judge or hand over the case to the CBI,” he said.

Earlier in the day, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had lashed out at the Odisha government over apparent lawlessness in the state which saw a policeman pulling the trigger on Health Minister Naba Das in broad daylight.

Also Read: ‘Jagannath Bharasa’: Dharmendra Pradhan Corners Govt Over ‘Lawlessness’ In Odisha

“While the CM, who holds the Home portfolio, has remained mum over the incident, the DGP is trying to shrug off his responsibility in the name of Lord Jagannath. This tells a lot about the law and order situation in the state,” he said.

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