Collector’s PA death: Odisha woman moves court seeking justice for husband

Malkangiri: In a major development in the case of death of Malkangiri Collector’s Personal Assistant (PA) Deba Narayan Panda, deceased’s wife Banaja Panda has moved the Court of District & Sessions Judge here and filed a murder case against Collector Manish Agarwal and three staffers of the office.

Accepting the petition, the court fixed November 11 as the next date of hearing in the case.

Deba Narayan was found dead near Satiguda dam on December 28, last year. Later, mystery shrouding the death of Deba Narayan intensified as some objectionable graffiti blaming the Collector for the death was found on the boundary wall of the office. Graffiti with ‘Collector Killed Panda’ and ‘Corrupt Collector’ texts were spotted on the boundary.

Police had initially registered a suicide case and later an unnatural death case into the incident. Family members of the deceased had alleged that they were being threatened by cops while investigation was underway.

Alleging lack of transparency and efficiency in the investigation process, Banaja Panda eventually moved the court. She further alleged that her husband might have been murdered after he came to know about the alleged involvement of the Collector in corruption.

The CCTV footage of the Collector’s office has been tampered, she claimed.