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 List of constituencies of Odisha ...

from 2009 until his assassination in 2023, representing

Jharsuguda Jharsuguda (ଝାରସୁଗୁଡ଼ା) 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 t ...

. Originally a member of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...

, he later switched to

Biju Janata Dal The Biju Janata Dal (BJD) is an Indian regional political party with significant influence in the state of Odisha. The party was established to uphold the legacy of former Chief Minister Biju Patnaik and to address the unique socio-economic ...

Early life

Naba Kishore Das was born on January 7, 1962 in a Karan family In the village Of Modipada Of

Rengali Assembly constituency Rengali is a Vidhan Sabha constituency of Sambalpur district, Odisha. This constituency includes Rengali block, Dhankauda block and 10 Gram panchayats (Gunderpur, Batemura, Bhikampur, Maneswar, Mathpali, Nuatihura, Parmanpur, Sindurpank, Tab ...

Sambalpur Sambalpur () is the fifth largest city in the Indian State of Odisha. It is located on the banks of river Mahanadi, with a population of 335,761 (as per 2011 census). Prehistoric settlements have been recorded there. It is the home of the Samb ...

District

Political career

Das was a member of

Odisha Odisha (), formerly Orissa (List of renamed places in India, the official name until 2011), is a States and union territories of India, state located in East India, Eastern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by ar ...

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 set up Orient Paper Mills in 1936. It is a small sleepy town on rocky terrai ...

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 Jharsugu ...

, 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 the largest city of the States and territories of India, Indian state of Odisha. It is located in the Khordha district. The suburban region, especially the old town, was historically often depicted as ''Chakra ...

. 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

. 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 People from Jharsuguda district Deaths by firearm in India Politicians assassinated in 2023 Indian politicians assassinated in the 21st century