Naba Kishore Das (7 January 1962 – 29 January 2023) was an Indian politician who was a member of

Odisha Legislative Assembly The Odisha Legislative Assembly is the unicameral state legislature of Odisha state in India. The seat of the Legislative Assembly is at Bhubaneswar, the capital of the state. The Legislative Assembly comprises 147 Members of Legislative Ass ...

from 2009 until his death, representing

Jharsuguda Jharsuguda is a city and district headquarters of Jharsuguda district of Odisha, India. It is an industrial hub, consisting mainly of metallurgical industries. It is well connected to major cities of India through the rail network, and a rece ...

. Originally a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

, he later switched to

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (; BJD) is a regional political party in the Indian state of Odisha founded and led by Naveen Patnaik, the current Chief Minister of Odisha and the son of former Chief Minister of Odisha Biju Patnaik, after whom the party i ...

Political career

Das was a member of

Odisha Odisha (English: , ), formerly Orissa ( the official name until 2011), is an Indian state located in Eastern India. It is the 8th largest state by area, and the 11th largest by population. The state has the third largest population of ...

politics. Earlier, he was in the

. Das was elected to the 14th Odisha Legislative Assembly with 62,663 votes. He was then elected to the 15th Odisha Legislative Assembly for his second term. He was also elected to the 16th Odisha Legislative Assembly for the third consecutive term. At the time of his death, he served as the state's Minister of Health and Family Welfare.

Death

On 29 January 2023, a policeman of ASI (Assistant sub-inspector) rank, fired four or five bullets on Das as he stepped out of his car at Gandhi square. The incident took place in

Brajarajnagar Brajrajnagar is a town and a municipality in Jharsuguda district in the state of Odisha, India. Popular legend says the town was named after Braj Mohan Birla after he setup Orient Paper Mills in 1936. It's a small sleepy town on rocky terrain, ...

Jharsuguda district Jharsuguda is a district in Odisha, India with Jharsuguda town as its headquarters. This region is rich in coal and other mineral reserves. Of late, many small and medium scale iron and steel units have been set up in the vicinity of Jharsugud ...

, when the minister was on his way to attend a meeting. He later died whilst undergoing treatment at Apollo hospital in

Bhubaneswar Bhubaneswar (; ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Odisha. The region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Ekamra Kshetra'' (area (''kshetra'') adorned with mango trees (''ekamra'')). Bhubaneswar is ...

. The Odisha Government ordered an inquiry into the incident. Then the crime branch took the accused policeman to the neighbouring Sundargargh district, where senior officers, including ADG Arun Bothra, questioned him. ''"Health Minister Naba Das was admitted to Apollo with gunshot wounds to the left chest. A team of doctors led by Dr Debashish Nayak immediately attended to and operated on him. During the operation, it was found that a single bullet had entered and exited the body, injuring the heart and left lung and causing massive internal bleeding and injury. The injuries were repaired, and steps were taken to improve the pumping of the heart. He was given urgent ICU care. But despite best efforts, he could not be revived and succumbed to his injuries,"'' the statement read. A 3-day state mourning was declared in Odisha. According to an official statement from the Odisha government, the national flag flew at half-mast on the day of death and on the day of the funeral.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Das, Naba 1962 births 2023 deaths Biju Janata Dal politicians Indian National Congress politicians from Odisha Odisha MLAs 2019–2024 Odisha MLAs 2014–2019 Odisha MLAs 2009–2014 21st-century Indian politicians Assassinated Indian politicians People from Jharsuguda district Deaths by firearm in India