Bhubaneswar: A day after Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Jaynarayan Mishra gave up his personal security officer (PSO), BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Saturday said that apprehensions over security officers in the aftermath of Health Minister Naba Das’s assignation by dismissed ASI Gopal Das is anything but normal.
Stating that an influential leader being shot by a cop was unacceptable in a democracy, he said: “The killing has come as a shock for me. I too have been assigned a PSO, he too has a gun and what if he turns out to be a Gopal Das?”
He, however, said that Jayanarayan’s decision to return the PSO is politically motivated.
“A lot of conspiracy theories are doing the rounds, it is, therefore, important for police to find out the exact reason behind the murder at the earliest and silence these gossips,” he said.
Reacting to DGP Sunil Bansal’s statement that barring Lord Jagannath, no one could have anticipated the minister’s death, Soumya Ranjan said he should now fervently pray to Him to reveal the truth behind the murder. “It will also save ADG Crime Branch Arun Bothra all the trouble of investigating the case,” he said in a sarcastic tone.
The BJD MLA, however, said not believing in the police would lead to anarchy. “Gopal Das is an exception. All policemen are not bad. The police should set a precedent by solving the case in 10-15 days,” he added.
