Amidst growing demand for a CBI probe into Itishree Pradhan’s death that has sparked off a Statewide outrage, a six-member team of the Crime Branch reached Rayagada and took over investigation on Saturday.
Led by a DSP-ranked officer, the CB team will also record statements of the witnesses and take custody of all records related to the case.
A major task before the investigating agency is to look into the larger conspiracy since Itishree’s family has alleged the role of a ruling party MP in suppressing the matter.
Though Netrananda Dandasena, the school inspector against whom Itishree had lodged a complaint of sexual harassment, has been arrested, the CB will try to find out if more people are involved in the case.
The CB is also set to seek Dandasena’s custody to find out more details relating to the case. “We will look into the nature of the complaint, circumstances leading to the incident to strengthen evidence against the accused and establish a case of murder,” a CB official said.
Although the CB has Itishree’s dying declaration to start with, it will seek more evidence because the declaration is merely a corroboration in a court of law.
Another mandate of the CB will be to look into administrative lapses, if any. Although the State Government has already placed two police officers under suspension, the investigating agency would examine if police action was timely and in conformation to the nature of complaint.
Itishree, a teacher in an upper primary school of Tikiri, succumbed to severe burn injuries at a Visakhapatnam hospital on Friday. She was set on fire by unidentified miscreants on October 27.
In July, she had lodged the complaint against Dandasena and was under constant pressure to withdraw the case.