Odisha crime branch to probe Nayagarh minor girl's case: Minister

Bhubaneswar: A day after a man and his wife attempted self-immolation in front of the state Assembly, the Odisha government on Wednesday directed crime branch of the police to probe the alleged abduction and killing of their five-year-old daughter. The crime branch will undertake a proper investigation into the matter and take appropriate action as per law, Minister of State for Home D S Mishra said this while making a statement in the Assembly.
Speaking on police action taken in Nayagarh district where the incident had taken place, the minister said, as many as 34 suspects have been questioned while four persons underwent polygraph tests at the state forensic science laboratory here in connection with the case.

A case was registered at Nayagarh Sadar Police Station on July 14, 2020.

Police stations across the state were informed after the girl went missing and her body was subsequently recovered, Mishra said.

A sniffer dog was engaged and a scientific team was put into service to collect evidences related to the incident, the minister said.

The post mortem examination of the victim's body by doctors of SCB Medical College revealed that "bone and soft tissue produced is of human origin and appears to of a female child of age 5-6 years. Opinion about sexual abuse and cause of death cannot be determined at this stage of decomposition with available body parts," the minister said.

Mentioning that the body was sent for postmortem examination after over a week, the minister said, it was done after the state forensic science laboratory in the state capital confirmed that the deceased girl was the daughter of the complainant.

Speaker S N Patro on Tuesday had asked the minister to inform the House about the circumstances under which the couple could make a self-immolation attempt near the Assembly and the alleged murder of the minor girl.

The Speaker's direction came following demands by the opposition BJP and the Congress for a government statement on the inability of the police to nab the culprits involved in the alleged abduction and killing of the girl in July.

They had also raised questions on how could the couple come near the Assembly premises and attempt self-immolation.

About the couple attempting self-immolation outside the Assembly demanding justice for their daughter, the minister said, they made the bid on Sachivalaya Marg where security arrangement was in place in the wake of the Assembly session.

"The couple came near the Assembly reception room and poured kerosene on themselves. The security personnel immediately intervened and prevented the couple from committing self-immolation. The kerosene bottle was seized and they were taken to the Capital Hospital police outpost," Mishra said.

Meanwhile, the incident involving the girl also evoked agitations outside the Assembly here and in Nayagarh.

Members of the BJPs Mahila Morcha staged demonstration at Traffic Chhak in Nayagarh and burnt effigy of a Cabinet Minister who has been accused of shielding the main accused.

The district unit of the BJP burnt the effigy of the minister at Traffic Chhak in Nayagarh demanding his resignation.

The victim's father had alleged that the main accused in the case is a key aide of a minister from Nayagarh, and the police was "bowing down to political pressure".

In Bhubaneswar too, members of the BJP Mahila Morcha took out a protest rally from the partys state headquarters to Master Canteen demanding immediate arrest of the accused and resignation of the minister.