By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Mystery behind the death of an IAS officer and his family members is getting deeper. While police say the scam-tainted Jagadananda Panda may have committed suicide after killing four of his family members, a close relative Sunday said circumstantial evidences suggest they may have been murdered.
Panda’s cousin Muralidhar, who is a special public prosecutor, refuses to buy police theory that the senior official of the Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs was stressed out by allegations of his involvement in a human trafficking scam, and therefore shot his family members and himself.
“The circumstances at the spot are not compatible with the suicide theory,” Muralidhar told IANS.
“I visited the spot, attended the funeral and saw their bodies in the hospital. Six bullets were fired one after other which can be done only by a sharp shooter,” he said.
“Police should examine if there was any threat to the life of Jagadananda and his family. His son was posted in a private company at Noida New Delhi. Why was he asked to come home?”
The son, who survived despite being hit by a bullet on his head, is undergoing treatment at a hospital. His condition is stated to be critical.
Panda, 54, was Friday found dead along with his wife, father and two sisters. Days before the incident, a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team raided his office and houses to ascertain if he was involved and to what extent in the illegal immigration racket.
“Jagadananda was asked by authorities to go on leave. If he was guilty in the scam, he could have been suspended but that was not done,” Muralidhar said.
Muralidhar said there may have been threat to Panda and his son’s lives and that is why “he released his service revolver from armory which he had deposited four years ago.”
“I have known him closely. I don’t think he can commit suicide or kill people he loved,” he said.
Denying police claim that the main door and other entry points to the house were found closed from inside and there was no possibility of anyone entering the house from the roof, Muralidhar said: “I saw there are several escape routes.”
“Police should also look into other angles,” Muralidhar said and demanded a CBI investigation in the killings.