What happened: Odisha Crime Branch probe into alleged missing Chief Minister’s Office files

Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered that an alleged missing file case from the Chief Minister’s Office be investigated by the Odisha Crime Branch. The reported files are said to be linked to official inquiry records that police are checking for disappearance.

Mohan Charan Majhi’s statement, as reported, connects the alleged missing records to an A.S. Naidu Commission report related to the murder of Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati. Police are also examining the disappearance of two other files: one connected to the Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati murder case and another related to a revenue divisional commissioner-level inquiry report about a fire at SUM Hospital and Medical College in Bhubaneswar.

During the investigation, police summoned V. Karthikeya Pandian (a close aide of former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik), Rajesh Verma (then Principal Secretary to the Chief Minister), and Manoj Mishra (IT Secretary). V. Karthikeya Pandian could not appear because he was out of the country. Rajesh Verma also did not turn up. Manoj Mishra presented his side to the probe team.

Background and earlier position: why Chief Minister’s Office records become critical

Public administration relies on documentation for tracking decisions, communications, and inquiry inputs. Allegations of missing Chief Minister’s Office files become governance-relevant when the missing records are linked to sensitive events and to formal inquiry outputs such as commission reports and departmental or administrative inquiry reports.

Related current affairs