Missing reports from CMO: Police begin probe as govt files theft plaint

Bhubaneswar: The city police launched a high-level investigation into an alleged theft of two crucial inquiry commission reports from the chief minister’s office (CMO) on the basis of a complaint lodged by the state govt on Wednesday.The move follows chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s statement on Sunday that the govt would probe into the sensitive matter.According to the FIR filed by home department joint secretary Sarat Chandra Marandi at Capital police station, the missing documents include Justice A S Naidu-led judicial commission report on the 2008 killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmananda Saraswati and others at Jaleshpeta Ashram in Kandhamal district, and the revenue divisional commission (RDC) inquiry report into the 2016 fire tragedy at SUM Hospital and Medical College.“The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of these two reports create a reasonable suspicion that they may have been intentionally removed, retained, concealed, destroyed or otherwise unlawfully dealt with,” the complaint stated.Police have registered a case under sections 305 (theft), 316(2) (criminal breach of trust), 238(c) (causing disappearance of evidence of offence or giving false information to screen offender), 241 (destruction of document or electronic record to prevent its production as evidence) and 61(2)(b) (criminal conspiracy) of the BNS. “Our investigation is underway,” a senior police officer said.The home department said the Naidu commission report was forwarded to the chief secretary’s office on Sept 16, 2016, and subsequently sent to the CMO on Sept 19. Similarly, the RDC inquiry report was dispatched to the chief secretary’s office on May 23, 2018, and later to the CMO the next day.The FIR stated that the home department came to know about the missing files only recently.“Several other reports and files, sent to the CMO, were returned to the home department on June 4, 2024, the day assembly election results indicated a change of govt. However, despite the return of other records, the two inquiry commission reports were not sent back,” the complaint read.Calling the disappearance a matter of “serious public concern”, the home department has asked the police to identify those responsible and take stringent action against them.