Bhubaneswar, October 24
In a new twist to the killing of Orissa DIG Jaswinder Singh, the involvement of Naxalites was ruled out and his two personal security officers (PSO) were arrested and slapped with charges of murder. The DIG was reportedly shot dead by one of the PSOs.
DGP Amarananda Pattanayak, who visited Raygada and the scene of the incident this morning, told reporters here on his return that a Crime Branch inquiry had been ordered into the killing.
The driver of the car in which Jaswinder Singh was travelling was also arrested and was charged with the same offence.
A case has been registered against the three under Section 302 of the IPC, Mr Pattanayak said.
The DGP identified the gunmen as Seshananda Sarangi and Asish Kumar Sarangi.
Seshananda had fired the shot from his 9 mm pistol that hit the DIG in the head killing him. But a second shot was fired thereafter that drilled a hole in the window screen “apparently to cover up the matter and give it a Maoist-strike angle”, Mr Pattanayak said.
Rejecting the contention that the DIG had been a victim of Left-wing ultras, the DGP said PSO Seshananda
Sarangi had fired the bullet after a crowd obstructed the DIG’s vehicle at Bada Katingi on the Guma Ghat.
Both driver of the car and Seshananda had said the bullet had gone off accidentally as the latter had forgot to lock the trigger of the pistol, he said.
The PSOs, who were travelling with the DIG when the incident occurred yesterday, were questioned last night. They had been taken into custody at Rayagada.
Asked whether the investigation included a murder angle, the DGP said, “It is a matter to be investigated — whether it is accidental or deliberate.” “Nothing will be hushed up,” he said, adding that “the guard definitely fired a shot”.
Earlier in the day before visiting Raygada, Mr Pattanayak said here that investigations had revealed that Jaswinder Singh was a victim of “accidental firing”.
Mr Pattanayak had said doubts had been expressed about the sequence of events. Both PSOs were interrogated and it was found out one of the guns held by a PSO had gone off accidentally, he said.
Asked whether he was ruling out Naxalite involvement in the incident as per the earlier theory, Mr Pattanayak replied “absolutely”.
A Rayagada report said after the DGP’s arrival there the body of the DIG was presented with a guard of honour with armed policemen reversing arms. It was later taken in a flower-bedecked van to Visakhapatnam by road en route Hoshiarpur, his
home town in Punjab, via Delhi. — PTI
