In a sensational case of murder and suicide, a senior Indian Administrative Service officer shot dead his wife, father and two sisters before turning the gun on himself at his residence late on Thursday night. He was reportedly depressed after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a case against him.
A 1983-batch IAS officer, Jagadananda Panda also shot his 22-year-old son Swapneswar, who was critically injured and is battling for his life in a local hospital, where he was operated upon.
All the five were shot from close range and had bullet injuries in the head, the police said. Panda was the Protector General of Emigrants in the Overseas Indian Affairs Department in Delhi and was believed to be in a state of depression after the CBI raided his house. Details of the case against him were not available.
The bodies of his wife Surekha, 46, father Manus, 75, and two sisters Bijayalaxmi, 57 and Kishori, 44, were found lying in a pool of blood in his residence in Deogaon village near Sambalpur in western Orissa after his mother, who is said to have heard the gunshots, rushed from the first floor and called neighbours.
A suicide note, purportedly signed by the official, was found from his house in Deogaon, about six km from Balasore, said Inspector General of Police Y B Khurania. The note has been sent for examination by handwriting experts.
