Abhijit Ray,Kolkata:Odisha Health Minister Naba Kisore Das failed to fight for his life for several hours due to gunshot wounds. His death was reported by the hospital on Sunday evening. At noon today, shots were fired at the minister in Brajrajnagar. It is reported that the minister was hit in the chest. Assistant Sub-Inspector Gopal Das has been named as the accused. The minister was rushed to Bhubaneswar.According to police sources, the minister went to attend a function at Gandhi Chowk in Brajrajnagar. Accused ASI Gopal Das fired at him as he got out of the car. The ASI has been arrested.Meanwhile, the accused’s wife claimed that the policeman was mentally ill. ASI’s wife Jayanthi Das said, “I didn’t know exactly what had happened. I was at home. My husband spoke to our daughter on video call in the morning.” After that she said that Gopal was undergoing treatment for mental illness for the last seven-eight years.But he used to be after taking medicine and he ,last came home five months ago.
After the incident, Brajrajnagar sub-divisional police officer GupteswarBhoi said that ASI Gopal Das suddenly took out his service revolver and fired at minister Nava Kishore Das. The seriously injured minister was rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital. An eyewitness said that policeman Gopal attacked the minister with a firearm as soon as he got out of the car.Now it is known that the ASI fired four to five times in a row. The minister immediately fell in front of his car. The accused tried to escape but the crowd caught him.Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik strongly condemned the attack on his fellow minister. He visited the Bhubaneswar hospital to inquire about the state minister’s health. Meanwhile, the crime branch of the state police has taken over the investigation of the incident. They will investigate if the attack is due to mental illness of the policeman or there is some other mystery. However, the investigation is believed to have become more complicated after the death of the minister.
