Odisha minister Naba Das died due to cardiogenic shock: Post-mortem report
Odisha police Wednesday said that the post-mortem report of the slain health minister Naba Kishore Das suggested that he died due to cardiogenic shock.
The collection, collation and analysis of evidence collected so far has been done by a CID-Crime Branch (CB) team and steps are being taken to conduct a forensic psychological assessment and layered voice analysis test of the accused by experts of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in New Delhi, it said. The additional director general of police, CID-Crime, Odisha, Arun Bothra is camping at the spot and personally monitoring and supervising the investigation into the case. The Odisha police said in a statement, The PM report suggests that the death was caused due to cardiogenic shock as a result of firearm injuries and is homicidal in nature.
The police have taken the accused, dismissed additional sub-inspector Gopal Das, on a four-day remand and his interrogation is being conducted by the CID-CB team.
A team led by a DSP is examining the witnesses, including supporters of the dead minister who were present at the spot during the firing on January 29, 2023, while another team headed by another DSP is verifying the medical treatment aspect and financial behavior of accused, an official said. Examination of neighbours and villagers is being done by the second team at the native village of the accused in Ganjam district.
The police have inspected the vehicle and the crime spot with the assistance of a scientific officer and ballistic experts using a FARO 3-D Scanner, he said.
The 60-year-old minister was shot at allegedly by the ASI at Gandhi Chowk of Brajrajnagar in his home district of Jharsuguda when he went there for an official programme on January 29. The minister succumbed to bullet injuries at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar later in the day.
The opposition BJP and Congress denounced the inquiry by the crime branch and naming of a retired High Court Judge to monitor the investigation into the case. The killing of the minister by a policeman was the first in the country since the assassination of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, Odisha BJP general secretary Prithviraj Harichandan said on Wednesday.
The people of the state are feeling unsafe after the killing of the minister in the presence of many security personnel and the state government is attempting to give a clean chit to itself, he said.
The investigation cannot be impartial unless it is invested by CBI, the BJP leader said and alleged that the CB has not been probing the conspiracy angle in the cabinet ministers killing.
The state government has no interest to know the reason behind the ministers killing. It appears that the government is attempting to come out clean in the incident. Who is behind the conspiracy? The people across the state are suspecting a deep rooted conspiracy behind the ministers killing,” he asserted.
On the appointment of a retired judge to monitor the case, Harichandan referred to the investigation into the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, a monk and a VHP leader, in Kandhamal district in 2008. “A judicial probe was held, but no result so far, he said.
People are also yet to know the outcome of the judicial probe into the alleged rape and murder of a dalit girl at Kunduli in Koraput district, he added. Senior Congress MLA Santosh Sigh Saluja demanded an SIT probe into the ministers murder, which, he said, could be the outcome of a high-level conspiracy.
Since Das was involved both in politics and business, the conspiracy could have been hatched from these two sections. But the crime branch of police is not interested to investigate this, he said.
The ruling BJD rejecting the allegations said the BJP leaders are making statements against the investigations out of frustration as they have been rejected by the people.
“BJP leaders should have faith in the judiciary and the investigation is being monitored by a retired High Court judge, BJD spokesperson Lelin Mohanty said at a separate press conference here.
The Odisha BJP leaders are “simply forgetting minimum political courtesy,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Federal staff and is auto-published from a syndicated feed.)
