Opposition takes swipe Odisha govt for killing of health minister Naba Kishore Das

By Dr Gourang Charan Rout

Bhubaneswar, Jan. 30: Major opposition parties, including the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress on Monday targeted the Odisha government over the assassination of health minister and senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) Naba Kishore Das at Brajarajnagar in broad daylight on Sunday.

BJP state general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said the killing of the minister by Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) Gopal Das spoke volumes about the existing law and order situation in Odisha.

“The broad daylight murder of minister Naba Kishore Das by a cop exposes the weaknesses in the state police administration. When a minister is not safe under this BJD regime, one can well imagine the condition of the common man,” said Harichandan.

“The minister’s killing clearly shows that nobody is safe in the state. We have been hearing about such incidents in other states like Bihar and others. We hope that the Odisha government wakes up from slumber and takes steps to strengthen the law and order situation,” added the BJP leader.

Senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition (LoP) Jayanarayan Mishra said, “The way the state health minister was killed has shocked the state. If the ASI was mentally ill, why was he given duty and given a revolver just a day before the incident? All such incidents create suspicion and hence the state government should hand over the probe to the CBI.”

Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said, “Till now we have not been able to understand how the home department in Odisha is functioning. Whenever a minister is touring a place, Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) should have been followed.”

According to Saluja, the Intelligence should have collected whether anybody is opposing the minister, plans of showing black flag or any other suspicious activities ahead of such scheduled tours of ministers.

“The way the ASI shot the minister, it clearly shows there is absolutely no law and order in Odisha. People are being killed inside jails and ministers on the road. Hence, the CM Naveen Patnaik should resign,” demanded Saluja.

Senior Congress leader, Narasingha Mishra said, “It is a preplanned murder and there must be some mystery behind it. It is totally not acceptable the way the accused ASI is being labeled as mentally ill. If the ASI was mentally ill, the state government is completely responsible for it. The killing clearly suggests that the intelligence unit is not working,” said Mishra.

Senior Congress leader Suresh Routray said, “The state government should strengthen law and order so that such incidents do not recur. Else there is every possibility that CM, me, IAS, and others might also face similar consequences. Instead of a crime branch inquiry, the state government should order a judicial probe into the murder of the health minister and the investigation should be conducted by a sitting judge of Orissa High Court.”