As we bid adieu to the year 2023, we look back to a series of gut-wrenching crime events and occurrences that haunt the collective conscience and shook the entire State. Let’s revisit some of the top horrific stories in the outgoing year that left an impact in human memory.
Here are some of the significant happenings we explored in 2023
Former Minster Naba Das Assassinated By Police Official
One of the most sensational crimes that was reported in the first part of the outgoing year was the assassination of former Health Minister Naba Kishore Das allegedly by a police official in Jharsuguda. The accused cop identified as Gopal Das, a former ASI of Brajrajnagar outpost had opened fire at the former minister at Brajrajnagar when the latter had gone there to attend a party programme.
Gopal, who was arrested on the spot, was initially stated to be a mentally-ill person and later the investigating agency confirmed his mental and physical fitness following a series of medical examinations. The accused is currently behind the bars and facing trial. The murder incident had also created a flutter in the State political spectrum.
Cocaine Worth Rs 220 Cr Seized In Biggest Drug Haul In Odisha
The year 2023 witnessed the biggest drug haul in Odisha when the Customs department seized around 22kg cocaine worth around Rs 220 cr in the international market from a cargo ship in Paradip port in December. On an intelligence input, the customs sleuths stopped the ship and seized 22 packets of the drugs attached to the crane with magnet. The ship which came from Indonesia was about to depart for Denmark. The probe agency is investigating whether the contraband items were being smuggled to foreign countries or India.
Minor Boy Abducted, Murdered By Relative Over Ransom In Jharsuguda
One of the spine-chilling crimes the State witnessed in 2023 was the abduction and murder of a 15-year-old boy of Jharsuguda over a ransom of Rs 50 lakh. The minor victim identified as Samarth Agarwal was murdered and burnt by the accused who is a relative of the boy. The prime accused named Amit Sharma who killed the boy and burnt his body with the help of his associate Dinesh Agarwal, dumped the half-burnt body in Bargarh. Amit, being closely-related to Samarth’s family, managed to convince him to go along with him and later he took him to an undisclosed place before demanding ransom over the phone. The heart-rending incident that happened in March haunted the collective conscience of the State.
Wanted Kashimiri Fraudster Held In Jajpur
During the concluding part of the year, the Special Task Force of Odisha Police caught a Kashimiri fraudster named Ishaan Bukhari from a village in Dharmasala police station area in Jajpur district. Bukhari who was wanted by Jammu and Kashmir police was accused of faking his identity as a neuro-surgeon and official of PMO also married seven women in Odisha and outside. A resident of Kupwara of J&K, Bukhari also identified himself as an officer of National Investigating Agency and Indian Army. The probing team is investigating his suspected links with terror groups.
I-T Raids Odisha-Based Distillery Group With Highest Ever Cash Seizure
The State witnessed a highest-ever cash seizure in the history of income tax raid in the country in December 2023. The Tax sleuths unearthed undisclosed cash amounting to more than Rs 351 crore and unaccounted jewellery exceeding Rs 2.80 crore during raids on an Odisha-based distillery group across three States.
A substantial part of the cash, to the tune of Rs 329 crore, was unearthed and seized from three small towns of Odisha i.e Sudapada, Titlagarh in Bolangir district and Khetrajrajpur in Sambhalpur district. The tax officials engaged three dozen counting machines and 80 officials to count the cash. The counting exercise took around a week to complete. The company facing the crackdown is linked to Congress MP Dhiraj Sahu.
