Naba Das murder: Accused Gopal Das’ diaries seized by Crime Branch

Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch, probing the murder of Odisha Health Minister Naba Kisore Das, today searched the official quarters and office desk of accused Police ASI Gopal Das at Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district.

The Crime Branch team seized some handwritten and printed documents and a few diaries from the accused’s quarters and office desk in the presence of magistrate and witnesses.

“Our officials are now examining the documents seized from the accused’s official quarters at Oriental Colony and office desk at Gandhi Chowk in Brajarajnagar town,” said a Crime Branch officer.

The Crime Branch team also questioned Jiban Kumar Nayak, who had sustained bullet injuries when the accused ASI opened fire on the Health Minister on January 29.

The Crime Branch officials had earlier retrieved some handwritten notes, purportedly written by the accused, from the toilet tank of Airport Police Station at Jharsuguda.

The accused had reportedly written the motive behind killing the minister in the papers. He had flushed the handwritten notes at the toilet during his detention at Airport Police Station, sources said.

“We have retrieved at least 22 pieces of paper notes from the septic tank. A few experts have been roped in to examine the retrieved notes,” said the official.

In a related development, another team of Crime Branch today examined the health records and financial dealings of accused Gopal Das at his native place in Ganjam district.

Notably, accused Gopal Das had opened fire on the minister during an event at Brajarajnagar on January 29. The minister succumbed to his injuries while being treated at a private hospital here on the same day.

Soon after the incident, the accused’s wife had claimed that he has been suffering from some mental illness for last seven to eight years.

A day after the incident, the accused was dismissed from police service.