BHUBANESWAR: Odisha health minister and BJD leader Naba Kishore Das has been hospitalized after being shot at by an assistant sub-inspector at Brajrajnagar in Jharsuguda on Sunday. Reports said Das shot on his chest is unconscious. He was shot at while he was on his way to attend a programme at Gandhi Chhak in Brajrajnagar, in his official vehicle.

Police said ASI Gopal Das of Gandhi Chhak police outpost shot at him twice from a close range. He has been arrested and the police are grilling him. The BJD activists of the area are protesting.

The minister was shot at from a close range when he came out of his car to inaugurate two new office buildings of chairman and vice-chairman of Brajrajnagar municipality. The attacker wore a khaki uniform, said the police.