BHUBANESWAR: Minsiter of State for Home Tusharkanti Behera informed the Assembly on Monday that investigation into the alleged suicide of Gobind Sahu, main accused in the school teacher Mamita Meher murder case, is being conducted as per the directive of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).
Making a statement in response to an adjournment motion notice given by the Opposition members, the minister said that Sahu, an under trial prisoner, was found hanging from the ceiling of the prison’s kitchen window on December 20, 2022. Sahu was in Kantabanji sub-jail in Balangir district.
Behera said a case of unnatural death was registered at Kantabanji police station following written complaint by the jailer and prison superintendent. Inquiry into the incident was handed over to the Crime Branch and probe is also underway by the judicial magistrate, Kantabanji. The postmortem report of Sahu showed that the cause of the death was due to hanging, he said and added that his death is being probed from all angles.
The Opposition BJP members walked out from the House expressing their dissatisfaction over the reply given by the minister. Coming down heavily on the government, Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi alleged that efforts are being made to suppress the case and the investigating agencies are yet to find out whether Sahu died by suicide or was murdered. Raising questions over the slow pace of investigation into the case, leader of the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) Narasingh Mishra demanded the incident should be probed by a special investigation team.