Lok Pal to probe Police-Criminal nexus in Orissa, IPS Officers transferred

The Orissa Police, which has been under scanner following a sharp rise in crime graph in the state in the past few months, received another jolt, as Chief Minister decided to take a tough stand on the alleged Police-Criminal nexus in the state and ordered a Lok Pal probe into this.

After the sensational murder of Judo Coach Biranchi Das, Bhubaneswar Police Commissioner Binay Kumar Behera had hinted at a possible police-criminal nexus in the state, following which the CM had sought a report from the DG Gopal Nanda.

In another development, the CM ordered a major reshuffle in the IPS cadre in the state. Bolangir SP Himanshu Lal has been appointed as the DCP of Bhubaneswar, while Cuttack SP Soumendra Priyadarshi has been transferred to Keonjhar. Amitabh Thakur, DCP of Bhubaneswar, has been transferred to Cuttack as the AIG. Deogarh SP Praveen Kumar was appointed as the new DCP of Cuttack. Several other IPS officers have been reshuffled. Bhavani Patnaik, the Investigating Officer in Biranchi Das murder case, has been shunted out. His new posting is yet to be decided.