Odisha govt. alleges two inquiry reports went missing from CMO during Naveen Patnaik tenure

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VHP leader Swami Lakshmananada Saraswati who was killed in Khandamal district of Orissa, seen with devotees in a file photograph. | Photo Credit: C.V. Subrahmanyam

The Bharatiya Janata Party government led by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi has alleged that two judicial commission of inquiry reports had gone missing from official government records during the previous Naveen Patnaik government.

The State Home Department has sought registration of an FIR, alleging that two inquiry reports, namely the A.S. Naidu Commission report on the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and others in Jaleshpeta Ashram in Kandhamal district, and a Revenue Divisional Commissioner-level inquiry report on the fire incident at SUM Hospital and Medical College, Bhubaneswar, remained untraceable in the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO).

Sarat Chandra Marandi, Joint Secretary in the Home Department, filed a complaint at the Capital Police Station seeking an investigation into the disappearance of the inquiry reports.

“The two commission reports, along with several other reports and files, were duly transmitted by the Home Department to the Chief Minister’s Office through the office of the Chief Secretary in the normal course of official business for consideration and necessary action. The Naidu Commission report was sent to the CMO on October 19, 2016, while the RDC inquiry report was transmitted to the CMO on May 24, 2018,” Mr. Marandi stated.

He pointed out that “recently Home Department has learnt that the two commission reports were not available in the CMO and remain untraceable despite searches undertaken by the concerned authorities”.

“Several other reports and files which had been forwarded by the Home Department to the CMO in the normal course of official business were subsequently returned to the Home Department on June 4, 2024, the date on which counting of votes for the Odisha Legislative Assembly election was conducted and the results indicating a change in government became known,”