ASI was on traffic clearance duty, clear intention to kill: FIR

“It’s a clear cut case where the accused is admitting that he has committed the crime. We will try to ascertain the details by taking the accused in remand. Efforts are on to conduct the investigation in a scientific way by collecting maximum evidence and examining eyewitnesses.

We want the culprit to be punished,” said Arun Bothra, Additional Director General of Police, Crime Branch.

Bothra, who questioned Gopal Das, did not respond to questions on whether the ASI had any personal enmity with Naba Das, and the allegations of a “bigger conspiracy”.

“We are exploring different angles. I am not able to say anything at this moment. We are verifying whether he has any mental illness, as claimed by his wife. His service record has no such mention,” said a senior police officer who did not want to be named.

The Crime Branch team visited the spot with forensic/ ballistic experts. Gopal Das’s cellphone, a 9 mm pistol and three rounds of ammunition have been seized.

These will be sent for ballistic examination, police said in a statement. The viscera of the slain minister has been preserved for further examination.

The state government has asked the Orissa high court to appoint a sitting/ retired judge or a district judge to monitor the Crime Branch probe.

According to the FIR filed by Brajrajnagar Inspector-in-Charge Pradyumna Kumar Swain, Gopal Das, who was posted at the Gandhi Chowk outpost where the incident occurred, was “deployed for traffic clearance duty” for the minister, who was scheduled to inaugurate an office in the area. Gopal Das allegedly used his 9 mm service pistol for the shooting.

At about 12.15 pm on Sunday, the minister’s car stopped near the building and he got down from the vehicle. “All of a sudden, ASI Das opened fire from his service pistol from a very close range, aiming at the minister with a clear intention to kill him,” Swain says in the FIR.

According to the FIR, even as Swain and Constable K C Pradhan caught hold of Gopal Das, the accused ASI fired two more rounds. Swain reportedly sustained a hand injury in the second round of firing.

While Gopal Das’s house in Berhampur was found locked on Monday, his wife, Jayanti, told some local reporters that they were in their village in Ganjam. “If the Crime Branch seeks any information from us, we will cooperate. We will also produce my husband’s prescriptions if the police want them,” she said.

Meanwhile, Naba Das was cremated at Kherual near Jharsuguda on Monday. Odisha Governor Ganeshi Lal and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik paid their last respects at the slain minister’s official residence in Bhubaneswar on Monday. His body was later taken to Jharsuguda for the last rites.

Alleging a conspiracy, senior BJP leader and Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly, Jayanarayan Mishra, demanded a CBI probe.

Senior Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja said the Chief Minister, who is also the Home Minister, should resign immediately over the “deteriorating law and order situation” in the state. Saluja also demanded a judicial probe.

Earlier in the day, the Chief Minister allocated the Health and Family Welfare portfolio to Finance Minister Niranjan Pujari.