Gopal Das Not Mentally Ill: Declares Medical Board

Bhubaneswar:  A medical board, consisting of four psychiatrists who recently evaluated the mental condition of the accused police ASI Gopal das in minister Naba Kishore Das’s murder case, has clarified that the accused has no mental illness.

Earlier on March 3, the Court of Additional District Judge, Jharsuguda quoted the medical board’s observations while rejecting the plea of the Crime Branch for a mental evaluation of the accused at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bengaluru.

“The person is conscious, alert, cooperative and communicative. He is well groomed with eye-to-eye contact. Rapport is established. Mood and affect-appropriate to the situation. Speech is relevant, coherent and goal-directed. Thought content-no abnormality, perception-no abnormality, orientation-intact, memory-immediate, recent, remote all intact, judgment-intact, intelligence-average, Abstract thinking-intact, insight present. The above observation made by the medical board nowhere it is found that the accused is suffering from mental illness,” read the order (sic).

When asked, Gopal’s advocate Hari Shankar Agarwal said, “We pleaded that if his mental state is good and the medical board has confirmed this, what is the need for his (Gopal’s) further examination.”