Nayagarh girl murder case: NCPCR recommends probe by Central agency

Source:-https://www.newindianexpress.com

BHUBANESWAR: The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has recommended probe by a Central agency into the brutal murder of the five-year-old girl in Nayagarh’s Jadupur village.

The panel’s recommendation came after it observed glaring gaps in the investigation carried out by the local police.

“After pursuing the facts submitted by the SP and the District Magistrate and subsequently during their summon hearing on December 9, NCPCR has noted that the investigation conducted by the police authorities is severely flawed with glaring defects which has caused untoward delay in the investigation of this serious incident,” said Commission Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo.

In its enquiry report submitted to the Secretary of Ministry of Home Affairs and Chief Secretary of Odisha, the country’s apex child rights’ body has also recommended disciplinary action against the investigating officer (IO) of Nayagarh Sadar police station.

Meanwhile, sources said Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday questioned a youth and his two family members as part of its probe.

The team has found evidence that the minor girl was sexually assaulted before her murder, but it has so far not found any clue that the victim’s organs were removed after she was killed.

“An expert can only remove organs and that too when he/she has access to adequate infrastructure which is unlikely in a remote village like Jadupur. The victim’s post-mortem report has not mentioned anything suggesting her organs were removed after her death,” said police sources

.On November 27, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had ordered a High Court monitored probe by the SIT after the opposition parties trained their guns on the State government over the shoddy investigation by local police.

BJP padayatra from today

As the BJP is preparing to give further momentum to its fight for justice for the Nayagarh minor girl by launching a five-day padayatra from the Temple City from Sunday, State general secretary of the party Lekhasri Samantsinghar on Saturday targeted DGP Abhay for misleading the people on the SIT probe.

Accusing the DGP of trying to cover up the failure of Nayagarh police, Samantsinghar sought to know why the SIT led by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra is not probing into the role of Minister Arun Sahoo in the murder case.

“The DGP has blatantly lied that SIT is monitored by Orissa High Court. This is a lie. Whom is he protecting and why the role of Sahoo is not being investigated? If SIT claims to have made headway in solving the case so easily what was Nayagarh police doing for so long? Why the DGP has not taken any action against the SP and other senior police officers of the district,” she asked.

Demanding immediate removal of the SIT chief, the BJP leader said if the alleged cash offer to a youth of Jadupur village to own up the crime is true, the government has no option left but to take action against Bothra. State BJP spokesperson Jatin Mohanty said the padayatra will be kick-started from Lingaraj temple and reach Jadupur village on December 25.