Opp steps up stir demanding min’s dismissal, questions CM’s silence

The opposition parties in Odisha Friday stepped up their stir demanding the sacking of the Minister of State for Home, D S Mishra in the Kalahandi lady teacher kidnap and murder case and raised questions over Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's silence on the issue.

The prime accused, who is the president of the school where the lady teacher worked and is known to be close to the minister, Friday confessed that he had cleaved the body and set it on fire before burying it in the school compound from where it was later exhumed.

The family members of the 24-year-old teacher have demanded capital punishment for the culprits involved in her kidnapping and killing. "We will get justice when the culprits are hanged," the teacher's parents said.

Senior BJP leader Surama Padhi said "Let the chief minister come out with a statement saying that his minister of state for home is innocent and he has no role in the killing of the lady teacher.

''It is high time that the chief minister assures the women of Odisha that they are safe and secure in the BJD regime,'' Padhi said. "It is a shame for women across the state and the country. We have filed an FIR demanding the arrest of the minister. If no action is forthcoming, then BJP Mahila Morcha will intensify the ongoing stir," BJP spokesperson Urmila Mohapatra said.

Activists of BJP Mahila Morcha barged into the Capital police station here during the day and filed a FIR against Mishra and raised slogans against him for his alleged links with the prime accused. They also demanded the minister's arrest. The Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly and senior BJP leader P K Naik demanded verification of the call detail record of the minister and the prime accused.

He said that according to media reports the prime accused had spoken to a powerful person for about two minutes after killing the lady teacher. The deceased woman's family too had alleged that Mishra was involved in the incident.

"Is the person to whom the prime accused talked after the killing, the minister? The call detail records of the prime accused and his associates should come under the purview of the investigation and (should be) made public," Naik said in a twitter post. He also demanded Rs two crore compensation for the dead teacher's family and a government job for a family member.

A stung BJD accused the BJP of indulging in ''petty politics'' in a ''most sesnitive incident''.

BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the saffron party has been ''making noise in order to protect its existence in the state''.

The victim's family will get justice and the police have arrested two persons in connection with the kidnapping and murder, he said in a statement. The protest by opposition against the incident spread to northern Odisha during the day as BJP and JMM staged a black flag demonstration in Baripada town when Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik visited Mayurbhanj district for launching the distribution of smart health cards under Biju Swasthya Kalyan Yojana (BSKY).

The activists attempted to show black flag to the chief minister when he was returning to the helipad. They, however, failed to reach near Patnaik's vehicle due to tight security, police said.

The opposition parties' activists raised slogans demanding dismissal of the minister, a statement from the chief minister and justice for the teacher's family.

The demonstration turned violent when a section of ruling BJD activists allegedly attacked the BJP activists and left three of them injured.

The three injured were admitted at the government hospital in Baripada after receiving blows on their faces, allegedly by BJD workers.

Both BJP and JMM have lodged separate FIRs at Baripada town police station that they were assaulted by BJD activists when they were holding demonstrations on the streets, which was their democratic right.

Sub-divisional police officer K K Hariprasad said the police have so far arrested two persons on the charge of creating disturbance during the chief minister's visit to Mayurbhanj district on an official programme.

More people may be rounded up as investigation is on, he added.

A report from Bhawanipatna, the district headquarter of Kalahandi, said that a section of Youth Congress activists hurled rotten eggs at the parental house of the minister and demanded his resignation for a fair probe.

A five-member team of Odisha Mahila Congress led by its president Bandita Parida visited the lady teacher's house in Bolangir district and demanded stringent action against the prime accused and the sacking of the minister.

Reports of agitations demanding the sacking of the minister and punishment of the culprits in the grisly crime poured in from various parts of the state.

The 24-year-old woman teacher of a private school at Mahaling in Kalahandi district, went missing on October 8 and her partly decomposed body was exhumed 11 days later from the school playground from a depth of 10 feet on October 19. Two persons, including the school president who is known to be close to Mishra, were arrested in connection with the incident following demands are being made for the past four days for the sacking of the minister.

Investigations into the gruesome killing continued during the day. A Bolangir police team took the prime accused to the school playground in the early hours and recreated the scene of the murder. The man was seen in a video recorded by local journalists as purpotedly saying that he had chopped the teacher's body before setting it on fire.

He was also seen in the video recording as saying in the presence of the police that he had thrown her bag, mobile phone and other belongings into the fire.

Meanwhile, family members of the second accused in the case, who was arrested on Thursday, staged a dharna in front of the Kegaon police station claiming that he was working under the prime accused and had no role in the kidnap and murder.

The man's wife handed over to the police a bag containing three pairs of ladies clothes, a mobile phone, a charger and some medicines, which she said was brought to her house by her husband 10 days ago.

DIG, northen range, Deepak Kumar had said that the lady teacher was killed as she had threatened the prime accused to expose his extra marital affairs.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)