Gajapati Case Diary

Cut Short

• Gajapati is a sleepy town 237 km to the south of state capital Bhubaneswar

• On August 21, the palace manager was found dead along with three siblings

• They had allegedly consumed poison to commit suicide

• Before the deaths, the local MLA had led a campaign demanding action against the manager and her brother for keeping the  ‘maharaja’ under ‘house arrest’ and trying to sell off royal properties

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Tumultous and tragic devel­op­ments over the past two weeks have thrown the Gaja­pati palace in the southern Orissa town of Parlakhemundi and the ailing head of the local royal family, a former MP, to the centre of a raging scandal that has all the ingredients of a Bollywood potboiler, a suicide pact included.