Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday removed former MLA Anup Sai from the post of Chairman of the Odisha State Warehousing Corporation after the Chhattisgarh police had arrested him in connection with a murder case.
Mr. Sai was allegedly involved in the murder of a mother-daughter duo. He was elected thrice as MLA of the Brajarajnagar constituency in Jharsuguda district on Congress ticket before switching sides to the BJD.
The bodies of the woman (32) and her daughter (14) were found in the Raigad district in neighbouring Chhattisgharh in 2016. It was alleged that the bodies were dumped there to muddle the investigation process.
According to the Chhattisgarh police, Mr. Sai was avoiding appearing before the investigating team despite several intimations. A team of Chhattisgarh had finally picked him up from near his residence on Wednesday.
After preliminary interrogation, he was formally arrested and booked under Sections 302 and 201 of the IPC on Thursday. The BJD has since expelled him from the party.