Odisha Crime Branch to probe missing Naidu Commission report on Laxmanananda Saraswati Murder

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Monday ordered a Crime Branch investigation into the ‘mysterious’ disappearance of the Justice A. S. Naidu Commission report on the 2008 Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati murder case close to six weeks after the Odisha Home Department lodged a police complaint over the missing file.

The State’s Home Department lodged a complaint with the police regarding the disappearance of two crucial inquiry reports—the Justice A. S. Naidu Commission report on the Laxmanananda assassination and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) inquiry report into a fire tragedy at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar.

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According to the complaint filed on June 10, both files were last traced to the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). While official records were returned to the government following the change of regime on June 4, 2024, the two inquiry reports were found to be missing.

Summons were issued to former IAS officer and ex-Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s close aide V. K. Pandian, retired IAS officer U. N. Behera, former Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister Rajesh Verma, and former IT Secretary Manoj Mishra, who had also served as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the former Chief Minister. However, Manoj Mishra is the only official to have appeared before the investigating officers and recorded his statement so far.

Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, who spent over four decades working among Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities in Kandhamal and other parts of Odisha, was assassinated on August 23, 2008, during Janmashtami celebrations. The killing sparked large-scale communal violence in Kandhamal, prompting the then BJD government to institute a judicial inquiry.

The commission was initially headed by Justice Sarat Mohapatra. Following his demise, Justice A. S. Naidu assumed charge of the inquiry and submitted the commission’s report to the state government on September 16, 2016, after nearly eight years of investigation. However the findings of judicial inquiry are yet to be made public.

The investigating agency will inquire into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the confidential reports and determine accountability for the missing files, said officials.