Odisha Minister Naba Das Murder: Slain Leader’s Supporters Want CBI Probe, Claims Cong MLA

Bhubaneswar: Mounting a scathing attack on Odisha’s BJD government over the mysterious murder of Naba Das, senior Congress leader and MLA Mohammed Moquim accused it of using the Crime Branch to shield the ‘mastermind’ behind the Minister’s killing.

Claiming that the people of the state, including the slain leader’s supporters, have no faith in the investigation being carried out by the Crime Branch, the Barabati-Cuttack legislator said the government must order a CBI probe into the sensational murder.

People of Naba Das’ home district Jharsuguda have also realised that the mystery behind the leader’s murder can be unraveled and truth brought to the fore only through a thorough probe by an independent agency like CBI, he told media.

Stating that the people are eagerly waiting to know the mastermind behind the murder of Naba Das, the senior Congress leader said efforts should be made to ascertain whether the Minister was killed due to political enmity or business rivalry.

However, the way in which the state government engaged the Crime Branch to investigate the case shows there is an attempt to suppress the truth and shield the real culprit, Moquim alleged.

Raising questions over the probe history of the Crime Branch, the Congress leader claimed that the agency has failed to bring the real culprits to book in almost all the cases it investigated. The state government has always been trying to mislead people in the name of Crime Branch probe, he claimed.