Former Odisha top cop’s book launches veiled attack on ‘Naveen Patnaik’!

In a newly published book titled ‘Comedy in Khakee’, Prakash Mishra, the former Director General of Police (DGP) of Odisha, offers a humorous account of a notable episode involving a former chief minister. Without explicitly naming Naveen Patnaik, Mishra refers to him simply as ‘the Chief’, sources said on Tuesday.

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The book recollects an incident during a visit to the Chief’s own constituency, Hinjili. Mishra describes how the Chief was met by a crowd with numerous grievances. The Chief, seemingly expecting his mere presence to suffice the need, appeared taken aback by the sheer volume of concerns raised by residents in his home turf.

As recounted by Mishra, when confronted by the long list of local issues, the Chief asked about the local Member of Legislative Assembly (MLA). It was then that a courageous officer informed him that he was, in fact, the sitting representative.

The former cop compares the Chief’s look of surprise to that of a dog caught with a biscuit in its mouth, exemplifying Mishra’s distinctive comedic style.

Throughout the narrative, Prakash Mishra refrains from directly naming Mr Patnaik, opting instead for the affectionate sobriquet ‘the Chief’.

“As the demands and questions became louder, his frown changed into a look of utter disgust. He was muttering something, which was not audible in that din. This was when he realised that he had to take control. He ordered in Hindi, ‘MLA ko bulao (meaning call the MLA),” the narrative on page No-135 read.

“After my retirement, some of my well-wishers had asked me to write my autobiography but I was not keen to do so. Instead, I started writing about some of my experiences as a cop in a humorous way. A small incident of Keonjhar encouraged me to write. Several characters linked to my life as a cop came to my mind and gradually the writing took the shape of a book. Life is not something tense and stubborn and I wanted to add humour to the lives of others through this book,” the former top cop said to OTV.

Worth mentioning, Prakash Mishra, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer from the 1977 Batch, retired in 2016 as the Director General (DG) of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), the world’s largest paramilitary force with over 300,000 personnel.

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Mishra held the position of Director General of Police (DGP) in Odisha from 2012 to 2014 and also led the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF). Additionally, he served in various roles at the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the Union Ministry of Home Affairs during his tenure on central deputation.