By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : The Orissa police Monday questioned a senior official of the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) in the murder case of athletics coach Biranchi Das, the police officials said.
The police summoned Priyabrata Patnaik to the police commisionerate here and questioned him on his alleged involvement in the murder of Das, who was former coach of six-year-old marathon sensation Budhia Singh.
Patnaik was called in for questioning after a criminal, Chhagla alias Bijoy Sahu, arrested recently, said that the conspiracy to kill Das was hatched at the behest of five people, including Priyabrata Patnaik and two women.
Das was shot dead April 13, outside a judo centre in Bhubaneswar. Gangster Raja Acharya, who has more then 30 cases of extortions, murders and kidnapping against him, is a prime suspect in the murder. The police have not yet arrested Acharya.
Patnaik is secretary in the department of transport and commerce and is also government’s nodal officer for POSCO-India’s proposed steel project.