Bhubaneswar: Former IAS officer Upendra Nath Behera failed to appear before Capital Police Sunday for questioning in connection with the alleged disappearance of key files from the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), police officials said.
Behera is the third former senior bureaucrat to skip a police summons in the case.
Former Chief Secretary Rajesh Verma did not appear before investigators July 22, while former IAS officer VK Pandian skipped his scheduled appearance July 25, informing police that he is abroad and would cooperate through virtual mode until his return to India.
Police had directed the three former officials to appear before the assistant commissioner of police (Zone I) for questioning.
The summons also asked them to bring any documents or electronic devices relevant to the investigation that might be in their possession.
“Behera did not appear before the police today and has not informed us of any reason for his absence,” a senior official at Capital Police Station said.
The case stems from an FIR filed June 10 by Sarat Chandra Marandi, Joint Secretary in the Home department.
In the complaint, Marandi alleged that two important inquiry reports had gone missing from the CMO during the previous Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government.
The missing documents include the Justice AS Naidu Commission report on the 2008 murder of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati during the Kandhamala violence, and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) inquiry report into the 2016 SUM Hospital fire in Bhubaneswar.
