Bhubaneswar minor girl gang-rape: CB ADG appears before Odisha HC

Cuttack: Soumendra Priyadarshi, ADG, Odisha Crime Branch today appeared before the Orissa High Court through videoconferencing in connection with a petition filed over the alleged gang-rape of a minor girl by some employees of private regional news channel OTV in Bhubaneswar.

The police official submitted the probe status report in the High Court and apprised it regarding the arrest of four accused in the case. The High Court today directed for providing protection to lawyer Gautam Siddique, one of the petitioners, as he had earlier informed the court about suspicious activities near his residence.

The next hearing in the matter will be held in January. The Bharatiya Bikash Parishad had filed a petition in the High Court seeking a CBI probe into the case and compensation of Rs 30 lakh for the victim.

Odisha Crime Branch had on December 14 arrested two OTV employees Aniruddha Panda and Krushna Behera, and two security guards Sribascha Samal and Bijaya Rout for their alleged involvement in the offence.

As per a complaint lodged by the mother of the victim with Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), the girl was gangraped by several employees of the channel for around 15 days during the month of April-May.

The accused committed the offence after tying the hands and legs of the girl. They also recorded videos of the incident and threatened the victim to leak it, alleged the girl’s mother who was working as a receptionist in the organisation.