The Hindu : Front Page : ‘IAS officer was upset at being a suspect’

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Aug 01, 2009
ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version

Front Page

Front Page

‘IAS officer was upset at being a suspect’

Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR: Senior IAS officer Jagadananda Panda, who was found dead along with four members of his family at Deogana village, apparently used his personal licensed .32 revolver to shoot them before training it on himself.

Mr. Panda reached Bhubaneswar from New Delhi on July 26. The next day he collected his revolver from The Jena Armoury in the city and purchased 40 rounds of bullets.

On July 28, Mr. Panda went to his village. On July 30, he hired a car from Sambalpur and went into the forest a few kilometres away from his house.

According to Inspector-General Northern Range of Bhubaneshwar Khurania, the car driver told the police that Mr. Panda fired three rounds from his revolver while sitting in the car. The empty cases were collected from the spot — two from outside and one from inside the car.

In a suicide note found in his brief case in the house, Mr. Panda said: “I am innocent. My simplicity betrayed me.” The letter indicated that he was upset at his being suspected in an emigration case.

The note said, “Not even a penny worth in excess of my reported property in returns was found during a search of my residence, my father’s house and my office.

“Latest returns of 2005, 2006, 2008 checked,” Mr. Panda added.

However, the police will draw a final conclusion on the authenticity of the suicide note only after handwriting experts inspect it.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik told journalists in the city that senior police and administration officials had gone to the spot to investigate the matter.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Front Page