The Odisha Crime Branch has formally taken over the investigation into the alleged disappearance of the Justice A.S. Naidu Commission report on the 2008 killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
In an official statement issued Tuesday, the CID Crime Branch confirmed that it has re‑registered the case under Sections 305, 316(2), 238(c), 241 and 61(2)(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, following orders from the Director General of Police. The agency said the move was taken “in view of the larger public interest and to ensure an impartial and thorough investigation.”
The case, originally registered at Capital Police Station, Bhubaneswar, will now be investigated by DSP Ashutosh Mishra, under the supervision of SP Anirudha Routray.
The development comes a day after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a Crime Branch inquiry into the missing report. The controversy stems from an FIR lodged by the Home Department on June 10 regarding the disappearance of two inquiry reports from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) — the Naidu Commission report and the RDC inquiry report into the 2016 SUM Hospital fire tragedy.
According to the FIR, while other files were returned to the Home Department in June 2024 after the Assembly elections, these two reports were allegedly not handed back. Justice Naidu had submitted his findings in 2016, while the RDC report was filed in 2018.
The Crime Branch is expected to probe the circumstances surrounding the disappearance, identify responsibility, and establish accountability for the missing documents.
