Crime branch Starts Probe into Suicides of Ex King Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo Aide, Siblings

BHUBANESHWAR: A team of the state crime branch on Tuesday started investigating alleged suicides of four siblings close to former Gajapati dynasty king Gopinath Gajapati Narayan Deo who is now undergoing treatment in a hospital in Chennai.

Ananga Manjari Patra, who was taking care Deo as manager, and her siblings Sanjaya and Bijayalaxmi were found dead inside their home near the Gajapati palace in Paralakhemundi, while a fourth sibling, Santosh, was found in critical condition. He died in a hospital on Monday.

The deaths came after public and media accusations that they had attempted to usurp properties of Deo, who is in his early seventies, and had confined the former Parliamentarian to his ancestral palace. The siblings had been summoned by the police over the allegations.

These charges have been denied in three alleged suicide notes reportedly found tucked into a pillow a day after the recovery of the bodies. The suicide notes reportedly blamed a bunch of local leaders who spearheaded the protests against Patras for their deaths.

Congress MP from Behrampur in 1989 and 1991, Deo had then joined BJP and BJD. He lost his son last year. His daughter lives in Chennai.

Earlier this month some locals led by Congress MLA Surya Rao came out against the Patras, claiming no one was allowed to see the ‘Gajapati Maharaja’ for more than a year. Patra claimed that Deo had been deeply disturbed by the untimely death — possibly suicide — of his son. Deo was “rescued” from his own home in a “state of shock and poor health” last week, by a group led by Rao and was flown first to Visakhapatnam and then to Chennai for treatment.

Chief minister Naveen Patnaik who even sent his health minister to check on Deo’s progress in Chennai, had said the government would bear the cost of the treatment.

Prompted by letters written by the Gajapati’s daughter Kalyani Gajapati and his brother Jagannath Gajapati Narayan to district officials and the chief minister, an FIR was registered to look into possibly misappropriation of properties and assets by Patra and her brothers.

A day after the discovery of the bodies, Patnaik ordered a crime branch investigation. A brother of Patra has filed a complaint of abetment of suicide against local politicians including Rao.

The erstwhile royal family has donated much of its properties in southern Odisha to institutions and the Puri Jagannath Temple. It is also speculated that Deo could own significant wealth through holdings in Chennai and Visakhapatnam besides his sprawling palace in Paralakhemundi.