BHUBANESWAR: Union Minister of State for MSME Pratap Chandra Sarangi on Thursday joined the ‘Justice for Pari’ bandwagon demanding a CBI probe into the mysterious disappearance and murder of the five-year-old girl from Nayagarh district.
“The State government has no moral right to stay in power as it utterly failed to unravel the mysterious murder of the little girl even after over four months,” Sarangi told reporters. Complimenting local sarpanch Soumya Ranjan Pradhan for exposing Minister Arun Sahoo, the Union Minister appealed to him to stand by the victim’s family come what may.
The complicity of Sahoo in the murder case is quite clear as he has been threatening the sarpanch and influencing the police to harass the victim’s parents. “If Sahoo is not involved in the case, why was he threatening the sarpanch and influencing others,” Sarangi wondered.
It is a matter of shame that the State government is harassing the family of the deceased girl while the perpetrators of the heinous crime are roaming scot-free. The efficiency of the State government and the police was evident when parents of the girl attempted self-immolation to tell the people about their plight, he said, adding that, “what is galling is that none of the accused have been arrested despite the girl’s parents naming them.
The Union Minister said he has no faith in the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case as its members are State government employees. A fair probe is only possible if the case is handed over to the CBI, he said. Sarangi also lambasted the Congress for tacitly supporting the BJD government in the case.
Chellakumar to visit Jadupur village tomorrow
Bhubaneswar: Senior Congress leader and Odisha in-charge A Chellakumar will visit the family members of the minor girl, who was allegedly kidnapped and murdered this year, in Jadupur village of Nayagarh district on Saturday. The decision of the Congress not to raise the issue in the recently concluded Winter session of the Assembly following announcement of court monitored-SIT probe into it had sparked off resentment in the Legislature Party with two senior MLAs Suresh Routray and Santosh Singh Saluja questioning the justification behind it. The issue had brought to the fore the differences in the party with the CLP leader Narasingha Mishra defending his stand by saying that court monitored-SIT was a historic decision. Chellakumar will arrive in Bhubaneswar on Friday morning for a two-day tour to the State during which he is scheduled to meet senior party leaders and attend a meeting of the legislature party at 11 am. Later in the afternoon, he will hold a review meeting with senior leaders to discuss the restructuring of the party organisation. He will leave for Nayagarh on Saturday.