Car with 5 bullet holes in straight line, missing towel: Murky details emerge in Naba Das murder case after kin seek CBI probe

According to the FIR in the case, a police officer allegedly opened fire at Naba Das from his service pistol at “close range” as the minister was getting out of his car for a party event at Brajarajnagar in Jharsuguda district. The accused officer – ASI Gopal Das – was then chased by the minister’s followers, during which he fired another two rounds, injuring two other persons, the FIR said.

The forensic report pointed out that there were five bullet holes in a straight line on another car in the minister’s convoy, but there was no clarity on whether these were made by shots from the same gun that killed the minister.

“All the five gunshot holes are found in a straight line as one straight wooden stick inserted in hole 1 could easily reach hole 5. The total distance from hole 1 to hole 5 is 28.4 cm,” the report said.

Even though the accused had fired three rounds at the minister as per the FIR, the forensic team collected only two empty cartridge cases from the crime scene. No bullets were found at the site, except for one “deformed bullet” in a small pocket on the right-side rear door of the second vehicle, the report said.

Another lapse that has come to light is that the shirt that the minister was wearing when he was shot was not preserved as evidence. Two doctors who conducted the postmortem at a Bhubaneswar hospital said the minister’s clothes were not produced before them, defence counsel Naresh Naik said.

Crime Branch officers familiar with the investigation said the shirt was incinerated at the hospital where the minister was airlifted to. They said this was submitted in writing to the court.

The Crime Branch headquarters has asked the investigators for an explanation about the lapses.

“The trial is going on in the case, but we are watching every development. There are some reports in the media on different aspects of the case. If new things come up, we will examine it and monitor it,” a senior Crime Branch official said.

Naba Das (62), who started his political career in the Congress and then joined the BJD, was an influential minister in the previous Naveen Patnaik-led government in Odisha, holding the Health and Family Welfare portfolio. His family has significant business interests in mining and transportation.

His murder two years ago came back into focus recently when his daughter and former Jharsuguda MLA Dipali Das and her brother Vishal said during a TV interview that they wanted the CBI to investigate the case.

On Sunday, Dipali said the family would soon write to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, seeking a CBI probe.

“If the state government is sensitive to the matter and respects my late father without any self-interest, I must request the administration to order a CBI probe into the matter. I can assure that our family will fully cooperate with the investigation,” she said.

Odisha Law Minister Prithviraj Harichandan said the CM would take a call on the matter if he gets a written application from the family.

Dipali’s request came amid criticism from state BJP leaders that she had remained silent on the case during the tenure of the BJD government, which ended only in June 2024.

The BJD, however, has said the investigation was on the right track when they were in power.