From Shielding Murder Accused To Brokering Deal, Odisha Home Minister In Allegations Soup

Bhubaneswar: Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra finds himself in a whirlwind of allegations flying thick and fast post the murder of schoolteacher Mamita Meher.

The latest being he tried to broker a compromise between Mamita and Govind Sahu, the main accused. Senior BJP leader Bijoy Mohapatra on Sunday alleged that the victim and the accused had met at the minister’s Raipur residence to settle issues and this had been going on for the last two months.

He has earlier been accused of shielding the accused. His name too cropped up in the alleged sex racket being operated in the school and college being run by the accused.

All India Mahila Congress President Netta D’Souza, who visited Balangir on Sunday, told the media that the minister should be grilled about his frequent visits to the college run by Sahu. “Why the minister was visiting the college so often? If the Home Minister of the state will be involved in such activities, how the citizens will feel safe?” she questioned.

Odisha BJP president Samir Mohanty has also demanded a clarification from Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on whether the investigation of the case will be handed over to CBI or any action will be taken against the minister in question.

Odisha BJP spokesperson and general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar tweeted: “The minister’s involvement in the 23-year-old schoolteacher’s brutal murder is deeply disturbing. Sexual exploitation of young girls by the Naveen Patnaik government is unacceptable and need to be investigated by CBI.”

Notably, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik had first tweeted about Dibya Shankar’s alleged close links with Sahu on October 18 when the latter made a dramatic escape from police barracks at Titlagarh, where he was being detained for five days for some strange reasons.

“The sudden disappearance of Mamita, while she was on the verge to explode like a bombshell exposing the naked facts of the rampant sex racket doing rounds on the educational campus, came as a great shock to all of us. It is evident that some hostile persons who did not want her to come up with those allegations have succeeded in their motives as she went untraceable on October 8,” said Naik.

Mamita’s family had alleged involvement of Sahu in the missing complaint. She was a teacher at Sunshine English Medium School and Sahu was president of the managing committee. She went missing on October 8 and the remains of her body were found on October 20 from Mahaling Stadium in Kalahandi. Sahu was nabbed that evening from a sugarcane field at Budhipadar village in Balangir.

It was a pre-planned murder in Drishyam style, the movie in which the protagonist buried a body in an under-construction police station.

Bhubaneswar Lok Sabha MP Aparajita Sarangi said such murder cannot be committed without political patronage.

Senior Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja alleged that the flesh trade was carried out by entrapping girl students with the promise of good assessments. “The minister Dibya Shankar himself also used to spend nights in the college,” he added.