Kolkata: When he quit the Congress in 2019, Naba Kisore Das, who was fatally shot by his former personal security officer (PSO) Sunday, told then Congress president Rahul Gandhi that the people of his constituency wanted him to join the Biju Janata Dal.
“The people and voters of my area want that I should contest the next election 2019 from BJD as they want our area to develop and I should join hands with Shri Naveen ji, Chief Minister of Odisha,” Das, a three-time MLA and the current minister for health and family welfare in the Patnaik government, wrote in his letter to Gandhi on 16 January.
Since then Das, who died after he was shot in his constituency, Jharsuguda, on Sunday afternoon, has risen to be one of its most senior leaders.
In a statement it released Sunday evening, Apollo Hospital, where Das was being treated, confirmed his death.
“The injuries were repaired, and steps were taken to improve the pumping of the heart. He was given urgent ICU care. But despite best of efforts, he could not be revived and succumbed to his injuries,” the statement said.
From a leader of the Students’ Federation of India (SFI) and the chief of the Odisha Congress to his position as one of the most trusted ministers of the Naveen Patnaik cabinet, Das, the richest minister in the Patnaik government, has seen a meteoric political rise.
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‘Unusual’
On Sunday, Das, who became minister for the first time in 2019, was shot while attending an official programme. The suspect, identified as sub-inspector Gopal Das, was allegedly the health minister’s PSO a few years ago and has since been taken into custody.
The bullet hit Das in the chest, police say. Two other people, one of them a policeman, have also been wounded in the incident.
It’s yet unclear why the suspect fired the minister, police say. “The ASI has been taken into custody and his interrogation is underway,” Brajrajnagar Sub-divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Gupteswar Bhoi told reporters. “We can’t say right away why he took such a step”,
A video that has gone viral shows Das greeting his supporters at Gandhi Chowk, Brajrajnagar, before he collapses near his vehicle. As a red stain spreads over his white shirt, he lies surrounded by supporters, gasping for air.
According to eyewitnesses, at least 4-5 rounds of bullets were fired.
The incident has left several questions in its wake — the chief among them concerning security.
“When ministers travel to their constituencies, the security apparatus is in place, I don’t think there was any break in that. We are waiting to see what the investigation reveals. It is so unusual for something like this to happen in Odisha,” BJD Member of Parliament Kalikesh Singh Deo told ThePrint.
On its part, the BJD has called the attack “dastardly”. “This is very tragic,” Pinaki Mishra, another BJD MP, told ThePrint earlier in the day.
Richest minister with over 140 cars
An influential leader from Jharsuguda — known as the industrial belt of Odisha — Das began his career as a leader of the SFI, but later joined the Congress.
A law graduate, Das had several flourishing businesses — among them mining and transportation.
In his annual property declaration in 2021, Das declared immovable and movable assets worth Rs 34 crore. Among them was a fleet of 145 cars — 80 belonging to him and 65 to his wife Minati Das — valued at 15 crore. While most of those cars were commercial vehicles, the list included a Mercedes Benz, declared under his wife’s name.
Asked about his possessions, Das said: “My family has several businesses. My son is also into business. We all pay income tax…What’s wrong with owning multiple vehicles?”
Also among his declared properties were three licensed weapons — a .32 revolver, a double-barrel rifle, and a 12-bore gun.
He also listed several properties in New Delhi, Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Jharsuguda, and Rairakhol in Odisha worth over Rs 2.28 crore.
Like his cars, his election campaigns also had a dash of glamour. His campaign in 2009 — the first time he contested the Odisha assembly election as a Congress candidate — had Bollywood actors Shakti Kapoor and Ashrani campaigning for him.
Das won the seat thrice — two of those times a Congress candidate.
In 2019, he was made a minister in the Naveen Patnaik government — the first time he became a minister. He also managed to carve a significant place in the cabinet, even retaining his portfolio in the June 2022 cabinet reshuffle.
(Edited by Uttara Ramaswamy)
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