Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former MLA Anup Sai was arrested by Chakradhar Nagar police of Chhattisgarh for his alleged involvement in a double murder case involving a mother-daughter duo in 2016.

Anup Sai was detained for questioning, later arrested by Chakradhar Nagar police after he failed to appear despite being summoned repeatedly for questioning.

The former MLA was picked up from his residence in Jharsuguda on Wednesday night by a police team and taken to Chakradhar Nagar police station in Raighar district of Chhattisgarh for interrogation.

Reportedly, police are trying to verify his alleged links in the murder of a woman, identified as Kalpana Das (32), and her minor daughter Pravati Das (14) in April 2016. Notably, the mother and daughter were brutally murdered in 2016. The bodies were later allegedly disposed off in Chhattisgarh.

Sources said the deceased woman was a live-in partner of Anup Sai.

Initially, police had no clue about the bodies and were unable to identify the deceased. It was after a DNA test that police were able to proceed in the investigation, said sources.

After police launched investigation in 2016, in the course of investigation they collected crucial information from the deceased’s kin after interrogating them and visiting different local police stations in Jharsuguda, which pointed at Anup Sai’s involvement in the crime.

Based on concrete evidence, Chattisgarh police detained BJD leader Anup Sai and took him for questioning on Wednesday night.

Notably, Anup Sai was a BJD heavyweight. He was elected as an MLA from Brajrajnagar constituency three times on Congress ticket. He had unsuccessfully contested elections in 2014 on a BJD ticket after switching from Congress.

During 2019 assembly polls, he was assigned the crucial task of campaign committee chairperson for Bijepur seat, which was contested by BJD chief Naveen Patnaik. In August 2019, Anup Sai was appointed chairmanship of Odisha State Warehousing Corporation (OSWC).

As the news of Anup Sai’s arrest broke, the BJD supremo removed him from the post of OSWC chairman and also expelled him from the party.

On Wednesday, Raigarh SP said Anup Sai was being detained for questioning as he failed to appear at Chakradhar Nagar police station after multiple notices. He, however, didn’t clarify about the case in detail, said Jharsuguda SP Aswini Mohanty.
Mohanty added that Jharsuguda police have registered a station-diary at Gandhi Chhak outpost and also informed his family members about the incident.

Speaking to India Today, ppposition BJP’s vice-president Lekhashree Samantsinghar said Anup Sai’s expulsion after his arrest was a typical knee jerk reaction of Naveen Patnaik in grudgingly taking action against tainted leaders.

“He not only has created a climate of violence against women in the state but has also been instrumental in sending green signals to such criminals by refusing to act against them. Most of the perpetrators of crime against women have direct links to his party and police is actively shielding them until the last moment. The gimmicks of 5T and Mo Sarkar are only to fool people and browbeat the petty officials while creating a fear psychosis among the last mile service delivery people. There are many Anup Sais hiding under the BJD umbrella and need to be exposed. Though Naveen babu has lost his moral right to rule, he is clinging on to power by hiding behind his ill-gotten majority,” he told India Today.