Naba Das murder: Pujari makes light of CB chargesheet
Bhubaneswar: A day after prime accused in health minister Naba Kishore Das’ murder case, Gopal Das, was produced in a court, the BJP on Friday made light of the 543-page chargesheet filed by the Crime Branch.
BJP MP from Bargarh Suresh Pujari alleged that the probe agency had been working towards ‘hiding the truth.’ “The CB chargesheet reveals that Gopal killed Naba as he felt threatened by him and his supporters. The instances mentioned are far-fetched. In my 40 years of experience as a lawyer, I have never come across a case in which a person takes to killing under the perceived fear of being harmed,” he said.
Pujari said the Crime Branch is yet to trace the bullet that pierced through Naba’s chest and there is no mention of the angle at which Gopal fired on Naba. “While the Chief Minister had told the Assembly that they had sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, no such report has been attached to the chargesheet. During the Lie Detection Test and Narco Analysis Test, which were conducted on Gopal in Gujarat, no one ever asked him if he was provoked or encouraged by someone to commit the heinous crime,” he added. Why was Gopal given 18 rounds of bullet instead of the normal 12 and no hand wash was conducted on others present around him, Pujari asked. The BJP MP said the Crime Branch has not even investigated the call records of Gopal.
Pujari also raised the issue of Gopal reportedly visiting Samaleswari temple in Sambalpur with his brother and observing ‘mundan’ while taking oath to kill Naba Das in near future. “Have they recorded his brother’s statement,” he asked.
Congress campaign committee chairman Bijay Patnaik said it is hard to believe that a lone policeman can kill an influential leader in broad daylight. “I have not seen the chargesheet, but if only Gopal Das has been held responsible for the murder then I would dub it as half-baked. We suspect a conspiracy behind his murder and police have made no efforts to unravel it,” he said.