Though three months have passed after the assassination of Odisha minister Naba Kishore Das, the mystery over the motive of the murder is still shrouded in mystery.

Opposition parties are questioning the efficiency of the Crime Branch of Police probing the case for not being able to ascertain the motive of the crime.

The prime and lone accused, Assistant Sub-Inspector of Police Gopal Das, was arrested immediately after Das’s murder on January 29, 2023, from the spot. The accused was dismissed from service later.

The issue was raised by both the BJP and the Congress while campaigning for the by-poll at the Jharsuguda assembly segment from where the former health minister was elected.

The slain leader’s daughter Dipali Das is the candidate for the ruling BJD in the by-poll. She is pitted against the BJP’s Tankadhar Tripoathy and Tarun Pandey of the Congress.

Claiming that the investigation is moving at a snail’s pace, the BJP accused the probe agency of trying to prove that the prime accused Gopal Das is 'mentally unstable'.

BJP spokesperson Manoj Mahapatra at a press conference on Saturday claimed that the people of Jharsuguda have many questions regarding the motive behind the killing of their elected representative.

“However, the BJD candidate (Das’s daughter) is yet to question the progress of the investigation by the Crime Branch,” he said demanding a CBI probe into the incident.

State Congress president Sarat Pattnayk sought the formation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe into the killing.

“We do not have any hope that the Crime Branch can unveil the motive behind Das’s killing. We know it will remain a mystery if they continue the investigation,” Pattnayk said.

The BJD, on the other hand, asserted that Crime Branch is probing the case from various angles.

“When the daughter of Naba Das is contesting the bypoll, the matter should not be politicised,” BJD MLA Shashi Bhusan Behera said.

Das died hours after being shot at allegedly by the police officer at Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda when the then health minister was going to attend an official programme on January 29, 2023.

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.