Bhubaneswar: The opposition parties continued to keep the Mamita Meher murder case burning as the student wing members of the Congress were engaged in a clash with police during a protest in the city and a BJP delegation met the slain school teacher’s family in Balangir on Tuesday.
Hundreds of Chhatra Congress members led by their president Sayed Yasir Nawaz took out a march to chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s residence in the city demanding resignation of Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged involvement in the case.
As the Chhatra Congress members were stopped by the police before Naveen Niwas, there was a scuffle between them. The party workers broke the barricades and hurled tomatoes and eggs at the police. Later, the police overpowered the Chhatra Congress members and picked up many of them to bring the situation under control.
The Chhatra Congress members also took out rally in all districts of the state in support of their demand.
At the same time, Cuttack Youth Congress members led by MLA Mohammed Moquim gheraoed the DGP office and threatened to intensify the agitation if the government fails to take action against the minister in 72 hours.
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Earlier in the day, a 15-member BJP delegation met Mamita’s family at the latter’s residence in Jharani village of Balangir district. The delegation led by state BJP president Samir Mohanty included Balangir MP Sangeeta Singh Deo, senior BJP leader KV Singhdeo, party leader and former Odisha DGP Prakash Mishra and party spokesperson Pitambar Acharya.
Speaking to the media after the meeting, the former DGP said if one looks at the whole incident, the role of police seems suspicious. “It’s quite rare for police to share video of crime scene recreation with media” he said.
The BJP’s national spokesperson Sambit Patra said a 3-member central team of the party will visit the state and take stock of the situation. “BJP president JP Nadda is aware of the incident. As per his directions, the central team including Sunita Duggal and Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury will visit Odisha. They will review the case and submit a report to the party,” he added.
Speaking on the role of Minister Mishra’s role, Patra said Govind Sahu was running a racket and the Home minister’s name has come up in the murder case. “The minister has even said that visiting the college made him feel young. Police didn’t register the case knowing about the minister’s involvement, he said.
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Joining the ranks with the opposition parties on the day, BJD MLA, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik also came down harshly on the government. “Murder of Mamita Meher is shameful. It is disgraceful for us if we cannot provide minimum safety to women,” he said.
