There is still mystery around the death of Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das which happened almost three months back on January 29, 2023.
The prime and the only suspect in the alleged murder is Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Gopal Das. He was immediately arrested and was dismissed from his service later but, to date, the motive of the murder is not revealed.
The Opposition parties have been questioning the efficiency of the Crime Branch of Police for the delayed investigation. According to reports, the issue was raised by both the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress while campaigning for the by-poll at the Jharsuguda assembly segment from where the former health minister was elected.
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The late minister’s daughter Dipali Das is currently a candidate for the ruling party Biju Janata Dal (BJD) in the by-poll. She is running against the BJP candidate Tankadhar Tripoathy and the Congress candidate Tarun Pandey.
Reportedly, the BJP has alleged that the probe agency is trying to justify the murder by proving that the accused Gopal Das is mentally unstable.
The reports also said that the BJP spokesperson Manoj Mahapatra at a press conference on Saturday claimed that the people of Jharsuguda have many questions regarding the motive behind the killing of their elected representative.
The BJD, on the other hand, asserted that Crime Branch is probing the case from various angles.
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“When the daughter of Naba Das is contesting the by-poll, the matter should not be politicised,” BJD MLA Shashi Bhusan Behera said.
(With PTI inputs)
