BHUBANESWAR/JEYPORE/KORAPUT: With the gang-rape of 14-year-old tribal girl snowballing into a major controversy over alleged involvement of uniformed men, the State police was on its toes even as Opposition Congress warned of a Koraput bandh if culprits were not arrested at the earliest.
A day after the shocking incident, vehicular traffic remained paralysed on the busy National Highway 26 connecting Koraput with Visakhapatnam as angry locals continued the road blockade demanding stringent action against the perpetrators.
Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on either side of Kunduli Square, posing serious inconvenience to the commuters while the State police rushed a special team of three investigators from the Crime Branch to aid Koraput police in the probe.
The State police designated the incident as a Red Flag Case investigation of which will be supervised at the highest level even as the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) asked for a report from ADG, HRPC and Secretary, SC and ST Department with seven days.
“Given the seriousness of the offence, we are adopting the best professional approach to probe the matter and nab the culprits. Those behind the heinous crime will not be spared,” Director-General of Police Dr R P Sharma said.
A Professor from the Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department of MKCG Medical College and Hospital has been rushed to Koraput to assist the medical investigation. In addition, an Assistant Director of Regional Forensic Science Laboratory is also deputed to collect physical evidence. While the Crime Branch team has already reached the spot and begun probe, the Koraput police began examining family members, school authorities, passenger vehicle driver as well as the studio where the 14-year-old victim had collected her photographs.
On Tuesday, the victim, a student of a Government Welfare School at Sarispadar, had gone to Kunduli market to obtain a document and passport size photographs for an Aadhaar card.
A native of Musaguda village under Pottangi police limits, she was gang-raped in Lanjiguda forest while on her way back from Kunduli. After being assaulted, she apparently crawled to a maize field where a group of villagers spotted her.
She was later rushed to a hospital in Kunduli before being shifted to Saheed Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital as her condition deteriorated. Koraput MLA Krushna Chandra Sagaria met the victim, who continued to be in a state of trauma and pain. Hospital sources, however, said the condition of the girl has improved and she is stable.
Police registered a case under Sections 376 (D) and 377 of IPC and Section 6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. A case has also been registered against people who were allegedly instigating locals to continue the road blockade on NH 26 leaving it paralysed. Meanwhile, Congress chief whip and Jeypore MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati has threatened Koraput bandh if police failed to nab the culprits within the next two days.