Indus Valley Times

By Nalini Sahu

Bhubaneswar, Feb. 4: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday took potshots at the Odisha Director General of Police (DGP) Sunil Bansal for his remark on Friday that nobody ever anticipated that minister Naba Kishore Das would be killed by a police officer and it only Lord Jagannath who had have prior knowledge of this unfortunate incident.

BJP state unit spokesperson Golak Mohapatra, while castigating the DGP for not accepting the intelligence and police failure to protect the minister, said the top cop should take his uniform off and lead the life of a normal human being or spiritual person.

“A DGP is not expected to take asylum at the feet of Lord Jagannath for his department’s failure. He broke his silence six days after the ghastly murder of the incident and did not pay any visit to the crime spot. Add to this, he is now trying to cover up the weaknesses of his department by invoking the name of Lord Jagannath, the presiding deity of Odisha,” said Mr Mohpatra.

Meanwhile, amid the ongoing probe into the high-profile murder of the minister, ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik on Saturday expressed doubt over the security provided to him.

“I have also been provided with an armed Personal Security Officer (PSO). Most often I fear if he would turn out to be one like Gopal Das, the Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) who killed minister Naba Kishore Das,” said Patnaik on the sideline of a programme in Cuttack on Saturday.

The statement of MLA came a day after BJP MLA and Leader of the Opposition (LoP) Jaynarayan Mishra gave up his PSO. The incident has forced people to think about the seriousness of the situation as the police are yet to ascertain the exact reason behind the murder of health minister Naba Kishore Das.

“I am surprised and find it unacceptable. The way an ASI fired upon a powerful minister and the latter died is hard to believe. I have also been provided with a PSO and he has a pistol. Most often I think if my PSO would become one like Gopal Das,” said Patnaik.

When asked about the DGP’s statement with respect to the incident, the lawmaker wryly said, “He should worship Lord Jagannath and invoke him to come in his dream and tell him the reason behind the murder. It would also go a long way in ending the difficulties of Bothra Babu (CB ADG Arun Bothra). There is an eagerness to know why an ASI killed a minister and it is the duty of the police to find out the truth.”