Odisha Health Minister Naba Kisore Das Shot in Chest
Naba Kisore Das, Odisha health minister who was critically injured after being shot at by a police officer, has died in hospital.
On 29th January 2023 at 1:00pm Naba Kisore Das, Odisha health minister was on his way to attend a programme in Brajrajnagar town of east Odisha in Jharsuguda district. As he got off his car and was being felicitated by his supporters, assistant Sub-Inspector Gopalkrushna Das had fired two rounds at the minister. One bullet hit the minister and the other hit a police officer next to him. Das was rushed to a hospital. He was later airlifted to Bhubaneswar. The hospital said that the bullet had injured the minister's heart & lung and caused internal bleeding. Das died as his injuries were very critical.
The police officer fired in the air to scare people and then ran away. But he was caught by locals, and has been taken into custody, the police said. The Chief Minister has asked the Crime Branch to investigate the incident and a seven-member Special Investigating Team has been formed. Prime Minister Narendra Modi tweeted, "Saddened by the unfortunate demise of Minister in Odisha Government, Shri Naba Kishore Das Ji. Condolences to his family in this tragic hour. Om Shanti". Naba Kisore Das, a strongman in the mining hub of Jharsuguda, had switched to the Biju Janata Dal (BJD) from the Congress ahead of the 2019 elections. He was considered a confidant of the Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. In May 2019, he took oath as the minister of health and family welfare. He is the second-richest minister of Odisha, Naba Das had 80 vehicles and properties worth ?34 crore.
He is known to have business interests in coal mining, transportation and hospitality sectors. The opposition Congress has demanded the resignation of the Chief Minister, accusing him of failing to maintain law and order. "When the government is unable to give security to the cabinet minister, how can it protect lives of the common man?" said Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja. Gopal had no known enmity with the health minister but was suffering from mental disorder and high blood pressure, his wife revealed. Gopal in the custody of the police is being interrogated and the motive of the attack is yet to be ascertained. According to the head of the department (HOD) of Psychiatry, MKCG Medical College and Hospital, Berhampur, Dr Chandra Sekhar Tripathy said, ‘Das is suffering from bipolar disorder. He first visited my clinic some eight to ten years ago. He used to get angry very easily and was undergoing treatment for this. I don’t know whether he was taking medicines regularly or not. But the type of disease he is suffering from requires regular medication. If a patient discontinues taking medicines, chances are high that the disease will resurface. It has been a year since he visited me for the last time,”
The ASI’s wife Jayanti Das too confirmed his disease. She said he is suffering from high blood pressure and is taking medicines. “I don’t know he had any enmity with the Minister. He was living away from us so I don’t know if he was taking his medications.” she said. Despite the history of mental disorder, he was in charge of law and order arrangement for the minister's visit. He was issued a service revolver and appointed in-charge of a police post at Brajrajnagar.
