Police summon ex-officials in probe into missing inquiry reports from Odisha CMO

Bhubaneswar, Jul 15 (PTI) Police on Wednesday summoned ex-IAS officer Rajesh Verma and former IT secretary Manoj Mishra in connection with its probe into the alleged disappearance of two inquiry commission reports from the Odisha Chief Minister's Office (CMO) during the previous BJD government's tenure, officials said. The two former officers have been asked to appear before the investigating officer of the Capital police station in Bhubaneswar at 11 am on July 22, they said. "You are requested to bring with you any documents, records, electronic devices or any other material relevant to the investigation that may be in your possession or control," the notice issued to Verma said. Verma served as principal secretary to the chief minister between 2017 and 2019. Mishra, a former Indian Railway Traffic Service (IRTS) officer, was appointed principal secretary of the Electronics and IT Department on a contractual basis in 2022, a day after resigning from the Ministry of Railways. Mishra was responsible for overseeing databases and IT operations in the then state government. He resigned after the change of government in June 2024. On June 10, the Odisha Home Department lodged a police complaint, alleging that two inquiry reports were missing from the CMO. The missing reports relate to the Justice AS Naidu Commission, which probed the 2008 Kandhamal riots following the killing of VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati, and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner's inquiry into the 2016 fire at a private hospital in Bhubaneswar that claimed more than 20 lives. According to the complaint, on the basis of which a case was registered, several inquiry reports were transferred to the Home Department after the change of government, but these two reports were allegedly not handed over by the then CMO. PTI AAM AAM SOM