'My father was never kept in confinement'

Bhubaneswar/Berhampur: Gajapati Maharaja Gopinath Narayan Deo's daughter Kalyani on Friday told the Crime Branch that her father was never kept in confinement in the palace as alleged by the locals.
Her statement assumed significance amid the Crime Branch and police also confirming that the 73-year-old 'king' was not kept under house arrest. "She categorically denied her father was ever confined," said a Crime Branch official.
Kalyani's remark belied the charges of locals against the former palace manager, Ananga Manjari Patra and her brother Sanjay, who was Maharaja's personal assistant, keeping the 'king' in confinement.
Ironically, the Paralakhemundi police had on August 14 registered a case on such charges against Ananga and Sanjay. Following public outrage, the bodies of Ananga, her brothers Sanjay and Santosh and sister Bijaylaxmi were found from their house on August 21, two days after they allegedly commited suicide.
The Crime Branch officcials said Kalyani, however, did not throw much light on the suicides, which occurred on August 19. She denied having any knowledge as to what could have been the plausible reasons of their suicides, said the officer.
Significantly, Kalyani had on August 19 written to chief minister Naveen Patnaik, alleging misappropriation of palace property by some palace employees. TOI has a copy of the letter. However, her letter has no mention of any name of the palace employee.
"We asked her about the letter and tried to know as to whom did she suspect about illegal property transactions. She told us some names, but we are verifying her charges," the official said.
Talking to mediapersons at Paralakhemundi, 45-year-old Kalyani offered her condolences to the four deceased. "I am very sad about the four deaths. I do not know why they ended their lives. The Crime Branch will find it out," said Kalyani, who has been staying in Chennai since the 1980s.
Kalyani reached Paralakhemundi on Thursday after several years, ostensibly to answer some questions of the Crime Branch. She was given a rousing reception by followers of Maharaja Gopinath Deo, a former Lok Sabha member. She gave a memorandum to the Gajapati district administration, seeking reconstruction of Jagannath temple at Paralakhemundi.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch collected samples of handwriting of Ananga from her house to match it with the suicide note seized from her. "If the handwriting matches, we will interrogate all those named in her suicide note," the official said. In the letter, she blamed several persons, including local MLA K Surya Rao of defaming her on false charges and forcing her to end her life along with her siblings.