BERHAMPUR: A technical team of the Crime Branch (CB) reached Rayagada on Friday to investigate the mysterious death of 28-year-old Laxmi Majhi whose half-burnt body was recovered from the premises of Chandrapur community health centre (CHC) on December 22.
Five members of CB visited Chandrapur CHC and quizzed some of the staff. The team also reportedly collected forensic evidence from the abandoned room on the CHC campus where Laxmi’s body was found.
The CB visit comes a day after the BJP Mahila Morcha observed a six-hour bandh in Rayagada demanding a CBI inquiry into Laxmi’s death. On Thursday, a fact-finding team of BJP also visited Chandrapur CHC and met the deceased’s family members.
Similarly on Wednesday, hundreds of tribals staged demonstration in front of Tikiri police station demanding a CB probe into Laxmi’s death and compensation for her family. Criticising local MLA and Law Minister Jagannath Saraka, the agitators targeted police for the delay in solving the mystery over the death and failure to nab the culprits.
Laxmi, a physically-challenged tribal woman, was working as a manager in ‘Maa Gruha’ on Chandrapur CHC premises for the last five years after being recruited by a social organisation named ‘Alisha’.After the recovery of her charred body on December 22, her family members lodged an FIR with the local police alleging that she was raped and set ablaze by miscreants to destroy evidence.