Bhubaneswar, Oct. 6 (UDN): The Odisha Crime Branch has recorded the statements of three persons in connection with the disappearance of the Justice Naidu Commission file from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), as investigators continue to trace the document’s movement between government departments.
The development comes nearly four months after an FIR was registered over the missing file, which reportedly contained findings linked to the killing of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and the communal violence that followed in Kandhamal in 2008.
According to officials familiar with the investigation, the Crime Branch is examining the official movement and handling of the file, particularly its routing between the Home Department and the CMO. The agency has also indicated that more persons may be questioned as the inquiry progresses.
Investigators, however, have maintained that it is too early to conclude that the document was deliberately stolen. The probe is presently focused on establishing when and where the file went missing and identifying the officials or offices through which it had passed.
The Home Department had lodged an FIR at Capital Police Station on June 10 after the file was found to be missing. Amid growing political and administrative concerns over the disappearance of the sensitive document, the state government transferred the investigation to the Crime Branch on July 28.
Since taking over the case, the investigating agency has been examining records and questioning individuals connected with the file’s official movement. Notices had earlier been issued to several former senior officials as part of the inquiry.
The missing document has raised questions over record management and accountability within the state administration, particularly given the sensitive nature of the commission’s findings.
The Crime Branch has maintained that officials and departments concerned are cooperating with the investigation. Further statements are expected to be recorded as investigators attempt to determine how the file disappeared and whether any procedural lapse or deliberate act was involved.