Bhubaneswar: The opposition parties, BJP and Congress raised the heat on the state government for resignation of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged involvement in the murder of school teacher Mamita Meher.
Speaking to the media persons, here on Saturday, Congress spokesman Satya Prakash Nayak said the minister had recommended sanction of lakhs of rupees to private educational institutions run by prime accused in the murder case Govind Sahu at Mahaling in Kalahandi district.
Quoting a CAG report, Nayak said the funds from PM Sadak Yojana have been diverted towards these institutions on the direction of minister Mishra. The CAG has raised objection over sanction of the funds by the Panchayatiraj department towards the private college.
Nayak further alleged that funds from Western Odisha Development Council (WODC) have also been pumped into these institutions instead of utilising those for development of the region.
Moreover, the private college at Mahaling run by Sahu was the epicentre of question paper leak of Plus II examinations in 2013. Though the Crime Branch was investigating into it, its report is yet to be made public, Nayak said.
It is clear from these facts that minister Mishra was directly involved in the affairs of the institutions run by Sahu, Nayak said and demanded that the chief minister should remove him from the minister post.
Earlier in the day, hundreds of women BJP activists led by senior leaders took out a mock funeral procession from the party office to Naveen Niwas seeking CBI probe into the Mamita murder case and arrest of minister Mishra for his alleged link with the prime accused in the case.
The BJP’s national vice-president Baijayant Panda also condemned the silence of the state government on the role of the minister in the case. “The allegations levelled against minister Dibya Shankar are quite serious. It is being alleged that he used to visit a ladies’ hostel, but why? I hope that proper action will be taken in this case,” he said in a video release.
Stating that the crimes against women have been rising across the state, Panda said most of those cases have political links but the government has been found wanting in taking actions own ministers.
