On Wednesday, Odisha Police summoned V K Pandian, a former IAS officer and leader of the BJD, as part of their investigation into the missing inquiry commission reports from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) during the prior BJD government.
Pandian, who acted as the private secretary to former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik for over a decade before joining the BJD ahead of the upcoming 2024 Lok Sabha and Assembly elections, is required to present himself for questioning on July 25. The police emphasized the importance of his full cooperation with the inquiry.
The police notice from the Capital Police Station requested that Pandian bring along any relevant documents, records, electronic devices, or other materials that he might possess.
Attempts to contact Pandian for a statement were unsuccessful.
Previously, the police had summoned two other officials: retired IAS officer Rajesh Verma and former Indian Railway Traffic Service officer Manoj Mishra, in connection with the missing reports. One report concerns the 2008 murder of Hindu seer Laxmananda Saraswati in Kandhamal, while the other relates to a fire incident at SUM Medical College in 2016.
Verma was principal secretary to the former chief minister from 2017 to 2019, and Mishra held various roles, including secretary of the Electronics and IT Department and officer on special duty in the CMO during the BJD’s tenure.
The investigation into the alleged disappearance began following an FIR filed by the state’s Home Department on June 10, which claimed that the two judicial commission reports were unaccounted for in the CMO, despite efforts to locate them.
The FIR noted that while numerous other documents sent by the Home Department to the CMO were returned on June 4, 2024, these two reports remained missing, raising suspicions that they may have been unlawfully handled.
The timing of the summons is notable, occurring shortly after Pandian’s wife, Sujata Karthikeyan, an IAS officer, joined the BJD. Despite announcing his retirement from politics following the BJD’s recent electoral setback, Pandian retains Naveen Patnaik’s confidence and is currently leading the Biju Naveen Inspirational Foundation, which lists Patnaik’s Delhi residence as its address.
While the BJD has not officially commented on the situation, sources within the party suggest that the summons may be a tactic by the BJP-led state government to divert attention from ongoing protests in New Delhi and across the nation regarding the NEET question paper leak.
This development follows Patnaik’s return from Delhi, where he expressed solidarity with the protesters demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. He also condemned police actions against protesting students, stating, “Everyone is deeply shocked by the violence of the police,” and accused police of treating prominent politicians, including Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi, harshly.
BJD supporters have been actively protesting in Bhubaneswar and other regions of Odisha, calling for Pradhan’s resignation.
