Who Was Naba Das, Odisha Health Minister Shot At By Police Officer?

Odisha Health Minister Naba Kishore Das died after he was critically injured on Sunday after an ASI rank officer named Gopal Das fired bullets at him from close range. The incident occurred when the minister stepped out of his vehicle to attend a programme in Brajarajnagar in the Jharsuguda district.

Das (60) was in a critical state as he sustained multiple bullet wounds on the left side of his chest and was airlifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment. The officer meanwhile has been arrested and the motivation behind his attack is yet to be ascertained. 

#LIVE | Moment of attack on #Odisha Health Minister #NabaDas accessed, shots fired seconds after he gets out of car. pic.twitter.com/xmSMBJRltb

— Republic (@republic) January 29, 2023

Who was Naba Das?

Naba Das was a leader of the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) led by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. An advocate by profession, Das entered politics after he joined the Indian National Congress in 2009. The Minister from Odisha's Jharsuguda continued his run in Congress until 2019 and switched to the BJD that year. He was appointed the Health Minister on May 29, 2019, and has been serving in the position since. He survived by wife Minati Das, one son and one daughter.

Notably, the Minister was famous for his gracious donations and was recently in the headlines for donating gold and silver pitchers worth over Rs 1 crore to the Shani Shingnapur temple in Maharashtra earlier this month.