Odisha boat tragedy: Police launch probe, ODRAF operation questioned

BHUBANESWAR: Police have launched a probe to find out the circumstances leading to the death of

TV journalist Arindam Das

, during the rescue attempt of a stranded elephant inside the Mahanadi river by the

Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force

(ODRAF) on Friday.


Experts questioned the ODRAF’s move of allowing two scribes to board the rubber boat on a dangerous mission to save the jumbo.

“The police will find out the circumstances leading to the tragedy. We will ensure the standard operating procedure (SOP) is followed strictly to avoid reoccurrence of such mishaps in future,” special relief commissioner Pradeep Kumar Jena said.

As per the SOP, no person other than those involved in the operation is supposed to board such boats on a rescue mission.

Additional director general of police (law and order) R K Sharma, who is the operational head of ODRAF, has begun the inquiry into the tragedy. Sharma, who visited the mishap spot and interacted with ODRAF personnel, said, “It would be too premature to comment on what went wrong.”

Many questioned the ‘botched up operation” by the ODRAF, the backbone of disaster management in Odisha, internationally known for mastering the strategies of tackling calamities well.

Sanjiv Marik, a former director general of police (DGP) of the state, said ODRAF should not have allowed the journalists, even if overenthusiastic to accompany them during the dangerous mission.
“While the personnel are trained, others are not. It looks like an avoidable and unfortunate death,” Marik said. Another ex-DGP, Prakash Mishra, questioned the very reason ODRAF going near the jumbo.
“I don’t understand why they went near the wild animal, which may behave unpredictably in such a situation. It seems they had not done a proper assessment of the threat perception. It was a misadventure, which must be introspected,” Mishra said.

The boat with seven persons on board, five rescue personnel and the two journalists, capsized near a pillar of the Mundali barrage where the base is also concrete structure causing injuries to them after being swept away by the strong current, a police officer said. While the other journalist (Pravat Sinha) and two ODRAF jawans have been undergoing treatment, one of the jawans has been missing.

Arindam (39) is known for covering disasters. He was among the first few journalists to cover the release of an abducted Italian tourist, Claudio Colangelo, by Maoists led Sabyasachi Panda, from a jungle in 2012. Odisha governor Ganeshi Lal, chief minister Naveen Patnaik, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and people from various walks of life condoled Arindam’s death.

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