Slamming the Naveen Patnaik-led Odisha government, BJP MP from Bargarh Suresh Pujari on Friday came down heavily on the Crime Branch for lackadaisical attitude and accused the agency of ‘hiding the truth’ in the sensational Naba Das murder case.
Pujari lambasted the probe agency for being hand in gloves with the government to protect the mastermind and called the chargesheet a ‘waste paper.’
“The Crime Branch has submitted a 500-page chargesheet and the statements of at least 100 witnesses have been recorded and more than 90 documents have been seized. Going by the chargesheet, I can firmly say that the CID, Crime Branch has tried to ‘hide the truth’ instead of unraveling it,” alleged Pujari.
He further alleged, “The CB chargesheet reveals that Gopal Das killed Naba as he was of the impression that he would be killed by the latter and his supporters. However, it has never been seen that a person has killed someone assuming that he would be killed. In all my 40 years of experience as a lawyer, I have never come across one such single case.”
“I can also say that the Crime Branch tried to go a step ahead, but have returned two steps back. Police have failed to even trace the bullet that pierced through Naba’s chest and came out from his back after being shot by Gopal.”
“On the other hand, the CM Naveen Patnaik himself stated in Assembly that they had sought the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. However, no FBI report has been attached to the chargesheet. Moreover, the Lie Detection Test and Narco Analysis Test were conducted on Gopal in Gujarat. However, no one has ever asked him if he was provoked or encouraged by someone to commit the heinous crime in the lie detection test and narco analysis test,” Pujari added.
“Most importantly, the CB has not even investigated the call records of Gopal Das. Had the CB scanned his last 15 days' call records before killing the minister, whom he had met and was in whose contact, everything would have been clear and crystal. The main accused behind the ‘bigger conspiracy’ would have been arrested easily,” Pujari said.
“This chargesheet is a waste paper. A constable of Odisha Police will conduct a better investigation than the Crime Branch. Gopal Das will be saved during the trial and the masterminds in the case are already on the safe side,” Pujari added.