Bhubaneswar: Odisha Governor Dr. Hari Babu Kambhampati on Saturday held a high-level discussion with Commissioner of Police Suresh Dev Datta Singh at Lok Bhavan, focusing on strengthening security and protocol arrangements at the Governor’s estate in the wake of the April 16 incident involving two senior IRS officers.
During the meeting, the Governor emphasised the need to review and upgrade the existing security framework at Lok Bhavan. Officials discussed integrating modern surveillance systems and new-age security technologies, along with ensuring adequate manpower deployment for the smooth conduct of official programmes and protocol-related duties.
In a post on X, the Governor stated that the security of Lok Bhavan Estate requires “use of new-age technology and adequate manpower for seamless management of programmes and protocol.”
The review comes days after a controversy erupted on April 16, when D. Sudhakara Rao, Principal Chief Commissioner of Income Tax in Odisha, lodged a written complaint with the Governor’s Secretariat alleging that his officers Manish Kumar and Satya Prakash Mishra were forcibly removed from the Governor’s House in a police vehicle and taken to Capital Police Station.
Following the complaint, a preliminary inquiry by the Lok Bhavan office found that the two officers had neither secured prior appointments nor obtained visitor passes required for entry into the high-security premises.
In response to the incident, Lok Bhavan on April 17 constituted a four-member high-level committee to investigate allegations of misconduct by its staff during the interaction with the visiting IRS officers.
