ROURKELA: Normal life in Sundargarh district came to a halt on Thursday as the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) State Mahila Morcha organised a dawn-to-dusk shutdown to protest the mysterious deaths of two women tribal government employees within a span of 12 days. The protest also demanded a CBI probe into these unsettling incidents.
Assistant collector Sushmita Minz (35) was discovered dead under mysterious circumstances in a pond at the Sensory Park of Plant Site police limits on September 19. A few days later, assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Alice Narmi Lugun (37) also met an untimely and mysterious end during a law and order situation on October 1.
In Rourkela, BJP State Mahila Morcha president Aishwarya Biswal led the protests at Ambedkar Square and Bisra Square. The demonstration saw leaders, including the president of the Panposh unit Latika Patnaik, and other BJP activists, picketing at various crucial road junctions.
Biswal, reiterating allegations of murder in both cases, called for a CBI probe. She said, “The local administration and the BJD government are withholding facts, further fuelling suspicions surrounding these deaths. The government has failed to ensure the safety of women tribal employees.”The shutdown disrupted life in Sundargarh district headquarters, SH10, Birmitrapur town, NH143 besides affecting traffic movement in Bonai sub-divisional headquarters.