Bhubaneswar: Continuing its tirade against BJP over Odisha minister Naba Das murder, BJD has alleged involvement of Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in the crime.
After senior BJD leaders Amar Patnaik and Prashant Muduli called LoP a ‘mental case’ for raising fingers at 5T Secretary VK Pandian and MLA Pranab Prakash Das in the case, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Pramila Mallik said Mishra and Pradhan were scared and were making all kinds of allegations to save themselves as the Crime Branch investigation is heading towards them.
Speaking to media persons on Tuesday, Mallik said, “BJP MLA Jaynarayan Mishra is a murderer and habitual offender who has 16 criminal cases which include murder case, for which he was in jail for a long time.”
She further said in the sensational Laxmidutt Pradhan murder case in Chattrapur of Ganjam district in 2017, the accused were absconding and had taken shelter in a government Guest House in Uttarakhand. “If the call records of those accused are analysed, it will be found that Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had organised their escape from Odisha and hid them in Uttarakhand,” she added.
“Similarly, in the murder case of Dileshwar Sahu during Bijepur by-poll in 2018, Mishra and Odisha BJP Yuva Morcha president Irasis Acharya were arrested. Such a heinous crime could not have been done by both leaders without Pradhan’s support,” the minister alleged.
She said the BJP knew that it would lose badly in Padampur by-poll due to the organisational network and hard work of Naba Das and therefore, Pradhan became scared. “If one goes by the speeches of the Union Minister during the campaign, it will be clear that he directly or indirectly threatened Naba Das,” she added.
“In Naba Das’ murder case, both Mishra and Pradhan know that the Crime Branch investigation is heading towards them. They are scared and are bringing all kinds of allegations to save themselves. But they won’t be able to escape despite all their efforts. Both are fearful that their involvement will be found if narco and lie detection test is done on them. Therefore, they are telling cooked-up stories every day,” Mallik added.
