Odisha minister’s murder: Accused never sought leave for treatment of psychiatric disorder, Assembly informed

On both occasions, Gopal submitted a fitness certificate along with medical treatment papers from MKCG Medical College, Berhampur, pertaining to his treatment for psychiatric disorder (bipolar affective disorder) to regularise his attendance, said Behera in his reply to a query by Congress legislature party leader Narasingha Mishra.

Though Gopal Das had availed multiple leaves from 2014 to 2022, he cited his “wife’s treatment” on most occasions among other reasons. Hours after Das opened fire at the minister, his wife Jayanti had informed the media that her husband was under medication for “mental illness”.

The minister said the accused had never submitted any representation for his transfer.

A medical board constituted by the Odisha government for the psychiatric examination of Gopal Das following the murder also found him “conscious, alert, co-operative and communicative”. The board, which submitted its report on February 5, also observed that the accused is well-groomed with eye-to-eye contact while there was no abnormality in his thought content and perception.

The accused ASI had performed his normal duty as well as law and order duty which was assigned to him from time to time by the superior officers. His performance on duty in the last 10 years appeared to be satisfactory, said Behera, in a separate reply to Mishra.

“Total 299 cases have been investigated by Gopal Krishna Das as investigating officer during last 10 years of his service period. During his service period as ASI, he has shown good performance in investigating and detecting two gambling cases, for which he has been highly commended in his service book,” said Behera adding “He has been awarded with a GS mark for his hard and sincere work during December-2019 for closure of pending cases.”

Meanwhile, the students’ unit of Odisha Congress gheraoed the official residence of former minister and Bhatli MLA Susanta Singh in Bhubaneswar demanding to bring him under the purview of the investigation. The Congress activists also got into a scuffle with the police when they tried to barge into Singh’s residence.