Bhuabneswar: Three suicide notes and a dairy have been recovered from the house where the bodies of Anang Manjari Patra, the palace manager of Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deb, the successor of Gajapati dynasty of Pralakhemundi, and two of her siblings were found dead on Sunday afternoon, Director General of Police (DGP) KB Singh revealed this morning even as chief minister Naveen Patnaik ordered a Crime Branch probe into the mysterious deaths.
Talking to newsmen after meeting the chief minister, DGP KB Singh said, “We have recovered three suicide notes and a dairy from the king's manager Ananga Manjari Patra's house.” “Investigation into the matter in on,” he added.
“Yesterday four persons had attempted suicide in Paralakhemundi. Out of the four, three persons have died and one is now out of danger. He is undergoing treatment at Berhampur medical college. Once he will conscious, we will get all details from him,” Singh informed.
Special DG of Crime Branch BK Sharma, said, “We have constituted a special investigation team which will be headed by a SP-rank officer. Two inspectors, one sub-inspector and two additional sub inspectors will be there in the team.”
“The six-member team will visit the spot today and start investigation tomorrow. The team will probe the suicide case and other cases having connection with it. A multi disciplinary forensic team will also be sent to the spot for investigation,” Sharma added.
On Sunday, police had force opened the locked house of Anang Manjari Patra, who was at the centre of a huge controversy over the deteriorating health condition of the king, and recovered the three bodies; that of Ananga Manjari and two of her siblings, a sister and a brother. Circumstances suggested that all three of them had committed suicide.
While Ananga and her elder sister Bijaylaxmi had apparently consumed poison, the body of their brother Sanjay, who had resigned as the Maharaja's PA just days ago, was found hanging. Another brother Santosh alais Tulu was rescued by the police in a critical condition and sent to the MKCG hospital in Berhampur.
The police broke open the house in the presence of an executive magistrate after residents of the area drew its attention to foul smell emanating from it.
Locals said that the house had been locked from inside for the last three days and no one had been seen entering it or coming out.
Anang Manjari had recently hogged the headlines for allegedly keeping the scion of Gajapati dynasty under house arrest leading to his health deteriorating. She allegedly did not allow anybody, including the relatives of the former parliamentarian, to meet him.
In a letter to the chief minister, the daughter of the king, Kalyani Devi, who is currently staying in Chennai, had urged him to inquire into the property transactions of the royal family for the past 35 years.
Local leaders cutting across party lines had also demanded the arrest of the manager.