Odisha Govt Clarifies On FBI Help In Naba Das Murder Case, Says Letter Sent To Centre

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government on Saturday reiterated that it had sent a letter to the Centre to request the FBI in USA for help in the investigation of assassination of minister Naba Kishore Das.

In a clarification to the reports made in a section of media claiming that the Crime Branch did not approach the Ministry of Home Affairs seeking FBI assistance, the government said such claim is factually incorrect, irresponsible and malicious.

For the sake of clarity, the government said during the investigation into murder of the then Minister of Health and Family Welfare Naba Kishore Das, the accused Gopal Krishna Das and his family members claimed that he was taking medicine for mental illness. As such, steps were taken for examination of his mental health. Though the medical experts found him mentally fit, they suggested further examinations.

As this was very important, sensitive and rare case it was decided to use best techniques and experts for help in the investigation. In this process, help was taken from Central Forensic Science Laboratory, New Delhi, the State Forensic Laboratory of Gujarat and SCB Medical College, Cuttack. The NIMHANS, Bangalore was also approached to send team of its experts to Odisha to which they expressed their inability.

To clearly establish that the accused has sound mental health, the Crime Branch decided to approach the Behavioural Analysis Unit of Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) which has the best experts and equipment for such criminal investigation.

“According to rules, no state government can approach any foreign agency directly for such help. It is only through the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) that such assistance can be sought from a foreign agency/authority. Accordingly, on a request of CID-CB, the Home Department of Odisha government did approach the MHA to request the FBI USA for help in the investigation of assassination of Naba Das,” the government said.

“In this connection, the Home Department of Odisha government vide its letter No.187/C/22.02.2023 requested the MHA to seek help of the FBI in accordance with the Mutual Assistance Treaty (MLAT) with USA which provides for the mechanism for seeking and rendering mutual assistance in criminal investigations,” it added.