Bhubaneswar: While the brazen daylight killing of a Cabinet Minister of Odisha has taken the country by shock and awe, the opposition has started training guns at the State Government over failure of law and order. Congress veteran and Bolangir MLA Narasingha Mishra said the killing of the Minister proves intelligence failure and the people are unable to feel the presence of police in the state.
“It shows law and order machinery has collapsed. That is why a Minister has been killed by a policeman with his service weapon. Either there is no proper security for people’s representatives, mainly Ministers, or there has been gross negligence,” Mishra said.
Expressing shock over the manner in which the Minister, Naba Kisore Das was shot dead, Leader of Opposition (LOP) in Odisha Assembly, Jaynarayan Mishra said if the assailant ASI Gopal Das, was mentally unstable, why he was put on the Minister’s duty.
The state government should hand over the case to the CBI for an impartial probe, he said. Kantabanji MLA Santosh Singh Saluja raised questions on whether SOP was followed as a Minister was touring the place.
Countering the allegations, senior BJD leader and Narasinghpur MLA Debi Prasad Mishra requested the opposition to have patience and wait for the Crime Branch inquiry to complete. “Do not level allegations for the sake of allegations. If there is anything specific, facts, help the investigating agency rather,” Mishra said.
The senior BJD leader added, “The police is investigating the case, as there could have been doubts, because the assailant was a cop. It is the Crime Branch that has been ordered by the CM to probe the murder. Moreover, the State Government has requested the Orissa High Court to monitor the Crime Branch probe through a serving, retired Judge of the High Court or a District Judge.”
