Bhubaneswar: Sambalpur MLA Jayanarayan Mishra demanded CBI investigation into three sensational murders and mysterious death of the prime accused in one of the cases, during Zero Hours in Odisha Assembly on Tuesday.
“I will continue with this demand irrespective of who is at the helm in the state,” BJP legislator later told the media.
He is demanding a probe by the central agency into murders of former minister Naba Kishore Das, woman teacher Mamita Meher and Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati. “Questions have been raised with regards to investigations into these murder cases. It is not about the agency that carried out the investigation, rather it is about the then government which influenced the investigation process by putting pressure on police,” he alleged.
Mishra further questioned that alleged death by suicide of Gobinda Sahu, the prime accused in Mamita’s murder case, inside the Kantabanji Sub-Jail where he was found hanging from a window behind the kitchen. “It is difficult to digest the circumstances under which he was found dead,” he said.
“Since people of the state doubt the probe into these cases, I have urged the government to recommend CBI investigation to crack the mystery surrounding them,” he added.
Responding to his demand, BJD MLA Pratap Keshari Deb said that it is intriguing as to why Mishra raised the demand in the House when a minister of the incumbent government has already told the media that these cases will be reinvestigated. “The ball is in their court and so also the probe agencies at their disposal. It seems the government is clueless and indecisive. One arm of its does not know what the other is doing,” he claimed.
Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati said that the BJP had made similar demand before the elections. “They should just do it now and write to the Centre immediately for a CBI probe into these cases,” he added.
Mamita’s murder in October 2021 had triggered a wave of protests with former BJD minister Dibya Shankar Mishra being dragged into the controversy over his alleged nexus with Sahu, who was the president of the Sunshine English Medium School in Kalahandi’s Mahaling where the deceased worked as a teacher. Sahu allegedly ended his life inside the jail before his production in a local court on December 20, 2022.
Earlier, the BJP government had announced to reopen several high-profile Odisha murder cases, including the killing of BJD Health Minister Naba Kishore Das in 2023 and Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in 2008.
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Naba Das, a 3-time MLA from Jharsuguda, was shot by Gopal Das, an assistant sub-inspector, in broad daylight at Brajarajnagar on January 29, 2023. The Crime Branch of Odisha police had then said that he committed the crime as he felt threatened by the Minister and his supporters and feared for his life.
The accused is in judicial custody and the trial is on.
Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and four of his aides were killed at his ashram at Jaleshpata in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008. Five years later, the court of additional district and sessions judge in October 2013 sentenced eight convicts, including Maoist Pulari Rama Rao alias Uday, to life for murder, criminal conspiracy, rioting and possessing illegal arms.
