Bhawanipatna: The opposition BJP on Wednesday observed a 12-hour bandh in Odisha’s tribal Kalahandi district over the disappearance of a female teacher and an unidentified body found in a school playground.
The bandh was called on Sunday night to press for the immediate resignation of Odisha Minister of State for Home DS Mishra for helping the main accused, who is his close aide, escape from a police barrack in Titlagarh in neighboring Bolangir district. .
The incident created a furore in the state and the accused, who is the chairman of the managing committee of the school where the women teachers teach, was arrested on Tuesday from a sugarcane field in Bolangir district.
The 24-year-old school teacher went missing on October 8 and police on Tuesday retrieved a half-burnt and mutilated body from 10 feet below the school’s playground at Mahalinga, about 80 km from here, about which her family claimed that it was his.
The police had announced a cash reward of Rs one lakh to anyone who informed about the arrest of the accused who had escaped during his detention in the police barracks since October 14.
The accused was booked under IPC section 366 (kidnapping of a woman to compel or defile her) of the IPC.
Police said the bandh affected normal life in the entire Kalahandi district as BJP workers took to the streets and staged dharnas at important places. They were seen protesting in front of government offices, blocking roads and burning tyres at some places.
A group of BJP Mahila Morcha members tried to enter the minister’s residence here and threw eggs at him. A force official said that the police immediately reached the spot and a huge force was immediately deployed near the minister’s house.
Life came to a halt also in Bhawanipatna, Junagarh, Jaipatna, Kesinga, Narla, M Rampur, Dharamgarh and Lanjigarh in the district.
Roads in the district remained deserted and shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed. NH-26 passing through district headquarters Bhawanipatna also looked deserted due to the bandh.
Tension prevailed as ruling BJD workers came face-to-face with a protest by BJP workers near Naktiguda here. However, the BJD workers soon left the place and the sit-in by the BJP continued.
On this issue, the saffron party has called for Bolangir bandh on Thursday.
Opposition BJP and Congress have been demanding Mishra’s resignation and a CBI inquiry into the incident.
BJP state president Sameer Mohanty on Tuesday demanded that the minister should resign on moral grounds as the incident took place in his constituency and the main accused were close to him, due to which he managed to escape from police custody.
BJP Leader of Opposition PK Naik has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, demanding the resignation of Mishra for a CBI inquiry and a fair probe into the matter.
He said in the letter that only a CBI inquiry can clear the doubts in the minds of the people about the alleged physical abuse of girl students of the school and college run by the accused in Kalahandi district.
The ruling BJD criticized opposition parties for politicizing a sensitive criminal case and said the law would take its own course.
The bandh was called on Sunday night to press for the immediate resignation of Odisha Minister of State for Home DS Mishra for helping the main accused, who is his close aide, escape from a police barrack in Titlagarh in neighboring Bolangir district. .
The incident created a furore in the state and the accused, who is the chairman of the managing committee of the school where the women teachers teach, was arrested on Tuesday from a sugarcane field in Bolangir district.
The 24-year-old school teacher went missing on October 8 and police on Tuesday retrieved a half-burnt and mutilated body from 10 feet below the school’s playground at Mahalinga, about 80 km from here, about which her family claimed that it was his.
The police had announced a cash reward of Rs one lakh to anyone who informed about the arrest of the accused who had escaped during his detention in the police barracks since October 14.
The accused was booked under IPC section 366 (kidnapping of a woman to compel or defile her) of the IPC.
Police said the bandh affected normal life in the entire Kalahandi district as BJP workers took to the streets and staged dharnas at important places. They were seen protesting in front of government offices, blocking roads and burning tyres at some places.
A group of BJP Mahila Morcha members tried to enter the minister’s residence here and threw eggs at him. A force official said that the police immediately reached the spot and a huge force was immediately deployed near the minister’s house.
Life came to a halt also in Bhawanipatna, Junagarh, Jaipatna, Kesinga, Narla, M Rampur, Dharamgarh and Lanjigarh in the district.
Roads in the district remained deserted and shops, business establishments and educational institutions remained closed. NH-26 passing through district headquarters Bhawanipatna also looked deserted due to the bandh.
Tension prevailed as ruling BJD workers came face-to-face with a protest by BJP workers near Naktiguda here. However, the BJD workers soon left the place and the sit-in by the BJP continued.
On this issue, the saffron party has called for Bolangir bandh on Thursday.
Opposition BJP and Congress have been demanding Mishra’s resignation and a CBI inquiry into the incident.
BJP state president Sameer Mohanty on Tuesday demanded that the minister should resign on moral grounds as the incident took place in his constituency and the main accused were close to him, due to which he managed to escape from police custody.
BJP Leader of Opposition PK Naik has written to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, demanding the resignation of Mishra for a CBI inquiry and a fair probe into the matter.
He said in the letter that only a CBI inquiry can clear the doubts in the minds of the people about the alleged physical abuse of girl students of the school and college run by the accused in Kalahandi district.
The ruling BJD criticized opposition parties for politicizing a sensitive criminal case and said the law would take its own course.
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