Bhubaneswar: Even as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is alleging the ruling party leaders' hand in the disappearance of Babula Panda, the grandson of freedom fighter Laxmi Indira Panda, Odisha police on Tuesday said that family quarrel is the main reason behind his 'hiding'.
DGP KB Singh informed media that he (Babula) is matured enough to deal with such family disputes.
“From preliminary investigation we came to know that there was a quarrel between Babula and his brother over the former’s absence at the railway station with their mother. I think this is the main issue (behind his hiding) and he was upset over this,” Singh stated.
“Babula is a grown up person and is not a kid. He has criminal antecedents also... So far what I have observed that he is consciously avoiding police,” noted the top cop.
Asked about any development in the ongoing investigation, he stated police is in touch with his family members.
“We tracked Babula Panda’s mobile and it was showing ‘last seen’ in Mancheswar area here on April 18. After that he had diverted the call to a lady’s number, who came out to be his mother... But he has not visited the area since then... We had called the lady and interrogated her. She says she is unaware about his whereabouts. But sometimes he is in touch with the family members,” Singh said.