BHUBANESWAR: The clamour for removal of Minister of State for Home Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra grew as Opposition BJP and Congress on Tuesday stepped up demand over disappearance of the lady teacher in Kalahandi district even as main suspect Gobinda Sahu, president of managing committee of Sunshine English Medium School, was arrested by the police.
Members of students’ wing of Congress and Bhubaneswar district BJP took to the streets demanding ouster of the minister for his alleged close links with Sahu. Student Congress activists gheraoed and hurled eggs at Mishra’s official residence alleging he helped main suspect flee police custody. Several student Congress activists were picked up by police from in front of minister’s residence.
The State unit of Mahila Congress also staged demonstration demanding the Mishra’s ouster. President of State unit of NSUI Yaseer Nawaj said, ruling BJD should not try to protect the minister who should immediately be removed from his post to ensure a fair investigation. Activists of Bhubaneswar district unit of the BJP led by Babu Singh staged a demonstration at Master Canteen Square and demand Mishra’s ouster from the State Cabinet.
Expressing shock over the disappearance of the lady teacher, State BJP president Samir Mohanty said he has deputed a delegation of the party’s Mahila Morcha for an on-the-spot assessment of the situation. A five-member team led by State BJP Mahila Morcha president Smruti Patnaik has left for Kalahandi. The team will meet the parents of the teacher and talk to the local police and administration about the incident.
Referring to the increasing crimes against women in the State, BJP’s Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi said Odisha has the distinction of being the second ‘best’ in the country according to the latest National Records Bureau report. Stating that women are unsafe in the State, the BJP MP said, “No wonder, a lady teacher of a school has been murdered and a minister is implicated.” Describing the incident as horrible, Sarangi asked whether the national media will take note of this.
The BJP has called 12-hour Kalahandi bandh on Wednesday demanding removal of Mishra. Meanwhile, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee has reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the incident as influential persons are involved in it. Seeking Mishra’s immediate removal, OPCC vice-president Santosh Singh Saluja said the minister should also be brought under the purview of the investigation. The BJD, however, continued to support Mishra. “Facts should be established first. Just levelling allegations would not prove one guilty. Law will take its own course,” BJD vice-president Debi Mishra said.