Missing CMO Inquiry Reports: Odisha Police Summon Two Former Bureaucrats

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Odisha Police have summoned two former bureaucrats in the missing CMO inquiry reports case.
The missing documents relate to the Swami Laxmananda Saraswati murder and the Sum Hospital fire incident.
The Home Department has alleged the reports became untraceable after being sent to the Chief Minister’s Office.

BHUBANESWAR: The Missing CMO inquiry reports investigation has entered a crucial phase with Odisha Police issuing summons to two former senior bureaucrats over the alleged disappearance of two inquiry commission reports from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO). The summons are part of an ongoing investigation launched after the Home Department reported that the documents could not be traced.

Police have asked the former officials to appear before investigators as authorities seek to determine how the reports went missing and whether any criminal offence was committed.

Missing CMO Inquiry Reports Probe Widens

The police have summoned former IAS officer Rajesh Verma, who previously served in the Chief Minister’s Office, and former IRTS officer Manoj Mishra, who was Principal Secretary to the Electronics and Information Technology Department during the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government.

The investigation was initiated after Home Department Joint Secretary Sarat Chandra Marandi lodged an FIR with Capital Police alleging that two inquiry commission reports had disappeared from the CMO.

According to the complaint, the missing reports relate to:

The Justice A.S. Naidu Commission inquiry into the 2008 killing of Swami Laxmananda Saraswati in Kandhamal.
The Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) inquiry into the Sum Hospital fire incident in Bhubaneswar.

FIR Raises Suspicion Over Missing Reports

The FIR states that the Home Department had forwarded both inquiry reports, along with several other important files, to the Chief Minister’s Office.

After the change in government following the 2024 Assembly elections, the CMO reportedly returned several files to the Home Department on June 4, 2024. However, the two inquiry commission reports were allegedly not returned and remain untraceable.

According to the complaint, the circumstances surrounding the disappearance have created a reasonable suspicion that the documents may have been intentionally removed, concealed, retained, destroyed or otherwise dealt with unlawfully.

Missing CMO Inquiry Reports Investigation Continues

The Home Department has requested the police to identify the individuals responsible for the disappearance of the reports and take appropriate legal action based on the findings of the investigation.