JEYPORE:With the cops still grappling for clues on Sarispadar gang-rape even four days after the heinous crime sent shockwaves across the State, the Congress has called for a seven-hour total Koraput bandh on Monday in protest against slow progress in the case.
Addressing a Press conference here on Friday, Jeypore MLA and Congress Chief Whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that the State Government is neglecting the case to protect the culprits and demanded medical reports of the victim girl to be made public at the earliest.
“If the police fail to arrest the culprits soon, Congress will also intensify protests in tribal areas,” he told mediapersons in the presence of Koraput DCC president Minakhi Bahinipati and MLA Krushna Sagaria even as the State Commission for Women in Bhubaneswar took suo motu cognisance of the case and sent a four-member team to meet the victim and her family members.
With the police yet to make any headway in the case so far, political parties have mounted pressure on the administration. The district BJP leaders also demanded immediate arrest of the perpetrators of the crime.
Sources said seven police teams have been sent to different areas of the district and are investigating at the base camps of paramilitary forces. The teams have checked log books and enquired about the movements of jawans from their camps in Pottangi, Narayanpatana and Nandapur areas which are close to the crime scene.
The police teams have also collected samples of the soil of the crime scene in Sarispadar jungle and sent it to laboratory for further investigation. The samples collected from the victim were also sent for scientific tests. Meanwhile, a team of State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, led by member Sandhyabati Pradhan, visited Sahid Laxman Nayak Medical College and Hospital at Koraput on the day and met the victim.
The team also interacted with police officials of the district on the issue. The State Commission for Women has also sought a report from Koraput SP within seven days.“The team will meet the victim and her family. We will take further steps accordingly,” chairperson Lopamudra Baxipatra said. On October 10, a Class IX student was gang-raped allegedly by four uniformed men while she was on her way back from Kunduli market.
Maoists deny involvement
Koraput: The CPI (Maoist) outfit has denied any involvement in the minor gang-rape case. The outfit’s Andhra-Odisha Border Zonal Committee leader Jagabandhu released an audio tape to the media here on Friday in which he condemned the incident and denied involvement of the ultras. He alleged that the State police is trying to cover up the act of the jawans and attempting to create a divide between locals and Maoists through the incident. Protesting the gang-rape, the outfit has called for Koraput bandh on Monday, which will coincide with the bandh called by the Congress.