NEWSLINKS US EDITION SOUTH ASIA COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES US ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
The office of the Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday evening received a letter with a white powdery substance triggering off an anthrax scare, official sources in the state secretariat said.
The sources said an official of Patnaik's secretariat, while sorting out the daily mail, found the packet with powder.
According to an official in the chief minister's office, the white powder came to light, when Patnaik was busy in attending a function on disaster preparedness to mark the second anniversary of the super cyclone, which devastated coastal districts in 1999.
However, no address of the sender was found on the envelope that is suspected to have been sent from a post office inside the secretariat building itself.
Immediately the secretariat security was alerted.
After the incident, senior police officials rushed to the chief minister's office to inquire into the matter.
The Regional Research Laboratory was also alerted, and the envelope sent to the organisation for analysis.
The first anthrax scare in Orissa came to light when two minor children of Gourapur village in Jajpur district fell unconscious after sniffing powder that came in a letter last week.
Back to top
Tell us what you think of this report
