Malkangiri: The Sub-Divisional Judicial Magistrate (SDJM) in Malkangiri on Monday issued a non-bailable warrant (NBW) against senior IAS officer Manish Agarwal for not deposing before the court in connection with the death of personal assistant (PA) during his tenure as Malkangiri Collector in 2019.
Apart from issuing NBW to the IAS officer who is now posted as the Additional Secretary to the Planning & Convergence Department in the state, the court has also issued NBW to three other accused for their failure to appear before the court for the case hearing.
Notably, Agarwal faced non-bailable warrants for ignoring court orders and failing to respond to repeated notices.
As per reports, when Agarwal was Malkangiri Collector, his PA Deba Narayan Panda had gone missing from his office on December 27, 2019. The next day, his body was recovered from the Satiguda dam.
Initially, the police suspected suicide but later changed the case to an unnatural death. However, Panda’s wife alleged that her husband was murdered, pointing fingers at the then collector Manish Agarwal and three other staff.
Agarwal and three other staff members were subsequently booked under serious charges, including murder, intimidation, causing disappearance of evidence, and destruction of documents under Sections 302, 506 and 201.
The case led to significant repercussions, with the state government transferring Agarwal to the post of deputy secretary in the planning and convergence department.
