Odisha Police issued a notice on Thursday directing former IAS officer UN Behera to appear before investigators on July 26 in connection with the ongoing probe into the alleged disappearance of two high-profile inquiry commission reports from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) during the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) administration, officials said.
Behera, a 1983-batch IAS officer, served as the Additional Chief Secretary to former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik until his departure in January 2017.
“From information collected during the course of investigation, it appears that you may be acquainted with the facts and circumstances of the said case,” stated the notice served to Behera.
Police also issued a second notice to former IAS officer Rajesh Verma, who previously served as Principal Secretary to Patnaik, directing him to depose before the investigating team on July 30.
Verma was earlier scheduled to appear on July 22 but failed to turn up.
Both Behera and Verma have been instructed to report to Investigating Officer Bipin Behari Hota of the Capital Police Station at the office of the Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Zone-I, in Bhubaneswar.
The developments follow a notice served a day earlier to former IAS officer and BJD figure VK Pandian, who spent years as Private Secretary to Patnaik. Police asked Pandian to appear before investigators on July 25, citing that he may possess relevant details regarding the case.
Meanwhile, former IT Secretary Manoj Mishra has already recorded his statement with the police after appearing before the investigation team on July 18.
The criminal case was registered after Sarat Chandra Marandi, Joint Secretary in the Home Department, filed an FIR at Capital Police Station on June 10. The complaint alleged that two critical inquiry commission reports went missing from the CMO.
The untraceable documents comprise:
- The Justice AS Naidu Commission report into the 2008 Kandhamal communal riots triggered by the murder of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati.
- The Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) inquiry report concerning the tragic 2016 Sum Hospital fire incident.
The FIR was filed shortly after the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) assumed power in Odisha following the 2024 Assembly elections.
Marandi noted in the complaint that the circumstances surrounding the reports’ disappearance strongly suggest they may have been intentionally removed, concealed, destroyed, or unlawfully handled while in official custody.
He said the disappearance of the reports from official custody was a matter of serious public concern requiring a thorough investigation.
Sources said police have so far recorded statements of six officers who worked in the CMO between 2016 and 2024.
The notice to Pandian has sparked intense political debate in the state. BJD leaders accused the governing BJP of deploying diversionary tactics to mask administrative lapses, including fertilizer shortages, alleged mismanagement during the Ratha Yatra, and rising crime.
“There is a conspiracy behind filing a missing case. What the BJP government has been doing for the last two years? They issued notice to Pandian after Naveen Patnaik demanded Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation,” former BJD MLA Sambit Routray said.
Senior BJD leader and Opposition Chief Whip Pramila Mallik dismissed the claims, stating, “The files or reports have not gone missing as claimed by the BJP government. They have suppressed files to frame the BJD.” When asked about Pandian’s summons, she added, “If there is a notice, he will act as per the law.”
BJP MLA Babu Singh hit back at the BJD, asking why its leaders were “so sensitive” about the notice issued to Pandian.
“Pandian has taken ‘sanyas’ from active politics after the defeat of BJD in 2024. Why are these people so scared about the notice to him?” he said.
