Bhubaneswar: Alleging that the death of Haridaspur Panchayat Executive Officer (PEO) Smitarani Biswal was a pre-planned murder, state BJP, Saturday, reiterated its demand for a CBI probe into the incident.
A delegation of the BJP legislator party headed by Leader of Opposition Pradipta Naik had visited Haridaspur in Jajpur district to inquire about the incident.
Holding a press conference here, Naik said, “The Jajpur SP only reiterated statements of the accused by raking up the extra marital affair of the victim. It seems that Smitarani’s husband and child will not get justice from the police. Therefore, we demand CBI probe into the case.”
The BJP will raise the issue in the next session of Assembly, if the state government doesn’t recommend a CBI probe. A BJP delegation will also meet the Prime Minister and Home Minister in this connection, they said.
He also trained guns on the chairperson of the State Commission for Women Minati Behera. “Instead of meeting the family members of the deceased, the Women Commission chairperson met the accused and concluded her probe,” the BJP leader alleged.
“Why the lady PEO went to the guest house which belongs to the local Sarpanch’s husband? Who took her there? If she had committed suicide, then why was her body taken out in absence of the police?” questioned Naik.
The saffron party demanded immediate dismissal of Jajpur SP and Behera for making careless statements in this incident.
The Leader of Opposition also claimed that local tehsil office record says that concerned guest house, where Smitarani was found dead, was demolished in March 2018. “If the guest house was demolished, how was it operating till now?” he further asked.
Reacting to the allegations of Naik, BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra said, “BJP is making false allegations in this case only to remain in the limelight. If the party has any evidence or document, why are they not going to the police or any court?”
The police investigation is going on and one person has been arrested while all effort is on to provide justice to the victim’s parents, Patra said. “The BJP is trying to mislead the police investigation,” he added.
In her reaction, Minati Behera on the other hand stated that already the commission has written to the Odisha DGP seeking a crime branch probe into the incident.
