CM, Ray tried to block Anjana case: Ex-DGP

Tripathy, who retired on October 31, 1997 as the State’s DGP, in an 18-page affidavit before the high court yesterday made serious allegations involving the moral character of the Chief Minister and said that Patnaik, Roy and then DIG of Police, Central Range, S N Swain, had shown unusual interest in the case.

While the Opposition BijuJanata Dal and Janata Dal leaders demanded resignation of the Chief Minister in the wake of the former DGP’s disclosures, the Chief Minister himself dismissed the charges against him as blatant lies and politically motivated.

In his affidavit, Tripathy alleged that the Chief Minister had put pressure on him for either not registering the case against Roy or to register a case only under section 354 of the IPC.

The former DGP also claimed that Roy, who was in London when Anjana filed her FIR with the police against him, had also telephoned him from there asking him not to register any case on the FIR but to make only a station diary entry.

Tripathy said that it did appear to him that the Chief Minister and Roy had formed a nexus to suppress the case.

The Chief Minister, who had declined to make any comment on Tripathy’s charges against him without going through the document, issued a statement later describing the allegations as “mean and slanderous” and beneath the dignity of an IPSofficer.

Patnaik asserted that after Anjana had filed the FIR, he had made it clear to everyone that the law would take its own course and there would be no interference by anyone.

The Chief Minister claimed that the investigation report of the police was praised by the high court for its impartiality while pointing out that the high court gave the case to the CBI for inquiry not because the State police was unfair or incompetent but for avoidance of any embarrassment to the administration.

The State Yuva Janata Dal president and MLA, Ranendra Pratap Swain, was quick to fire the first salvo at the Chief Minister this morning when he demanded his resignation in the light of the revelations made by the former DGP.

Swain also demanded that the CBI institute a criminal case against the Chief Minister as he stands guilty of suppressing facts, shielding the accused and tampering with evidence in the case.

The DGP’s affidavit had established a prima facie case against Patnaik and the CBI should seek theGovernor’s permission to institute a criminal case against him, he said.

Senior BJD leader, Bijoy Mohapatra, also demanded Patnaik’s resignation while saying the Centre should ask the CBI to conduct a thorough inquiry into involvement of the Chief Minister and Roy in the Anjana Mishra case. The Chief Minister should step down and face such a probe to prove his innocence, he said.

The Biju Yuva Janata Dal chief, Debi Prasad Mishra, said that the Chief Minister had no moral right to continue in office.