Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik directed the Crime Branch to take up the investigation following an attack on Health and Family Welfare minister Naba Kishore Das by an assistant sub-inspector of police at Gandhi Square near Brajarajnaga in Jharsuguda district Sunday.
Chief Minister said he was shocked at the unfortunate incident of attack on the minister and prayed for his early recovery.
A green corridor has been made from the Biju Patnaik International Airport to the private hospital and doctors and ambulances were kept ready for the shifting of the minister to the hospital smoothly.
Brajarajnagar SDPO Gupteswar Bhoi said accused ASI Gopal Das fired around four to five rounds at the minister while his supporters were welcoming him with flowers and garlands soon after he alighted from a car.
The minister fell and was found in a pool of blood. His supporters immediately rushed him to Jharsuguda District Headquarters hospital.
Bhoi said the ASI has been taken into custody and the police are interrogating him to ascertain the cause of the firing.
Naba Das, a strongman in the mining hub of Jharsuguda, had switched over to the BJD from the Congress ahead of 2019 elections. He is known to have business interests in coal mining, transportation and hospitality sectors.
UNI