Odisha police summon ex-IAS officer V.K. Pandian over missing inquiry reports

The capital police station in Bhubaneswar issued a notice directing Pandian to appear before the assistant commissioner of police, Zone-I, at 11 am on July 25, according to the notice.

Published on: Jul 22, 2026, 20:11:21 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty, Bhubaneswar

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Odisha Police have summoned former IAS officer V.K. Pandian for questioning in connection with the alleged disappearance of two inquiry commission reports related to the 2008 killing of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and the 2016 SUM Hospital fire in Bhubaneswar from the chief minister’s office, officials said on Wednesday.

V.K. Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, served as private secretary to former chief minister Naveen Patnaik before taking voluntary retirement from the civil services

The Capital Police station in Bhubaneswar issued a notice directing Pandian to appear before the assistant commissioner of police, Zone-I, at 11 am on July 25, according to the notice.

Pandian, a 2000-batch IAS officer, served as private secretary to former chief minister Naveen Patnaik before taking voluntary retirement from the civil services. He later joined the opposition Biju Janata Dal (BJD) ahead of the 2024 national and state elections but withdrew from active politics after the party’s electoral defeat.

The summons is part of a widening probe into the disappearance of the Justice A.S. Naidu Commission report on the 2008 killing of Hindu leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati and his aides, and the Revenue Divisional Commissioner’s inquiry report on the 2016 SUM Hospital fire in Bhubaneswar.

Police had earlier issued notices to former IT secretary Manoj Mishra and IAS officer Rajesh Verma. Mishra appeared before investigators and recorded his statement, while Verma did not appear despite being asked to do so by Wednesday morning, officials said.

The Odisha home department last month registered a First Information Report (FIR) against unidentified persons under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) relating to criminal breach of trust by a public servant, destruction or concealment of official documents, and criminal conspiracy.

According to the FIR filed by Home department joint secretary Sarat Chandra Marandi, repeated searches failed to locate the two inquiry reports in official records.

Laxmanananda and four disciples were shot dead by Maoists at his ashram in Kandhamal district on August 23, 2008. The killings triggered one of Odisha’s worst episodes of communal violence, in which at least 38 people died and hundreds of homes and places of worship were destroyed.

The SUM Hospital fire in October 2016 killed 24 people after smoke spread through the intensive care, dialysis and emergency units of the private medical college and hospital in Bhubaneswar.

The FIR says the missing reports are significant because several other official files and reports sent to the Chief Minister’s Office were returned to the Home department on June 4, 2024, when election results indicated a change of government in Odisha, but the two inquiry reports were not.

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance of the reports, particularly when other files from the same period were returned, create a reasonable suspicion that they may have been intentionally removed, retained, concealed, destroyed or otherwise unlawfully dealt with, the FIR said.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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