Odisha: Naveen Patnaik govt in spot after teacher's murder in Kalahandi

BHUBANESWAR: The murder of a schoolteacher in Kalahandi district on October 8, whose missing complaint by her family was initially not entertained by police, has invited sustained opposition attention like never before in the state.
The BJD is in a spot as the state prepares for panchayat and urban elections in next three to four months, the BJP and the Congress have intensified attacks on the Naveen Patnaik government with each passing day since October 18, the day after accused Gobinda Sahu fled from police detention, only to be rearrested two days later.Sahu was then a prime suspect and was booked for her murder.
The two national parties have been seeking resignation and arrest of minister of state for home Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged ties with the accused, founder of the school where the deceased Mamita Meher worked. Though police have said Sahu murdered the teacher as she had proof of his alleged extramarital relations.
Congress general secretary and national spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala and the party’s Odisha in-charge A Chellakumar, accompanied by state Congress leaders, on Thursday visited the victim’s family in their native Balangir district, and sought Mishra’s arrest and trial for criminal conspiracy (IPC Section 120B). He demanded a high court-monitored special investigation team (SIT) probe to complete probe in 90 days.
Stating that Mamita’s murder was not an isolated case, Surjewala said Odisha tops in the country in crime against women and compared her murder with the 2012 Nirbhaya rape-murder case in in Delhi. The Naveen government has surrendered the state to murderers and rapists, he said. “The murder has put a question mark on safety of every daughter in Odisha. We will fight for justice for the murdered girl. Our demand is death sentence for the culprits,” Surjewala said.
A Congress statement questioned who would do justice when the allegation is against the (junior) home minister.
A three-member central BJP team comprising party’s Mahila Morcha national president Vanathi Srinivasan, Lok Sabha member from Haryana Sunita Duggal and West Bengal MLA Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury will visit the victim’s family on Friday. The BJP Yuva Morcha members took out a rally in Bhubaneswar, besides in Malkangiri and Chhatrapur seeking action against Mishra.
Though the BJP and the Congress had staged protests over murder of a girl in Nayagarh last year, dragging higher education minister Arun Sahoo’s name to it, and double murders in Mahanga earlier this year in which law minister Pratap Jena’s name was named an accused, the protests were not that widespread.
The BJD hit back the opposition saying when an inquiry is on, one should wait till the probe gets over. “The opposition parties are doing politics. Moreover, the Congress should not preach as people know very well what it did when it was in power in the state,” said BJD MLA Kishore Kumar Mohanty.
Surjewala also accused the BJP of shows “double standards” adopting different stands in Odisha and Uttar Pradesh for similar situations. The BJP has been defending Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra in UP despite his son’s involvement in killing of farmers at Lakhimpur Kheri while it is seeking Odisha MoS home’s resignation for the teacher’s murder. Dismissing the Surjewala allegation, BJP leader Pradip Purohit said in UP the minister’s son was arrested for his alleged role. In Odisha, despite his name cropping up, there is no action against Dibya Shankar Mishra.