Odisha CM’s resignation sought over Puri gang rape case

Bhubaneswar: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the gang rape of a girl in police quarters in Puri district on Monday.

Two persons including one dismissed police constable Jitendra Kumar Sethi were arrested in the case on Tuesday.

Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the gang rape saying that the police probe will not be impartial with the involvement of a policeman in the case.

“The number of atrocities against women has gone up in Odisha. As there is involvement of police in the gang rape case in Puri, the probe will likely get derailed. The Chief Minister, who is heading the Home department, should resign on moral grounds,” said Naik.

Senior Congress leader Bijaylaxmi Sahoo also demanded the resignation of Naveen Patnaik from the post of Chief Minister for failing to curb crimes against women in the state.

Protesting against the gang rape, hundreds of National Students Union of India (NSUI) activists took out a rally on Tuesday and tried to gherao Naveen Niwas, the residence of the Chief Minister. However, they were taken into preventive custody by police while they were en route to Naveen Niwas.

Meanwhile, DGP-in-charge Satyajeet Mohanty said strict action will be taken against the persons involved in the gang rape.

“We have arrested two of the accused in the case. One of them is a dismissed constable of Puri Police. The investigation is on and strict action will be taken against the accused. There are four teams working on the investigation and conducting raids at different places to nab the remaining accused,” said Mohanty.

Central Range DIG Ashish Kumar Singh said a chargesheet will be filed within 20 days in the case.

A minor girl was allegedly gang raped inside a police quarter near Jhadeswari Club in Puri on Monday.

The girl said she was waiting for a bus at the Nimapara bus terminal to go to her home in Kakatpur area in Puri district.

“I was returning to Kakatpur from Bhubaneswar in a bus. I alighted from the bus at Nimapara to have food and missed the bus. Later, when I was standing at the Nimapara bus terminal, a person introduced himself as a policeman by showing his identity card and offered help,” the survivor told media persons.

Later, four persons took her to the official quarter in Puri and two of them raped her, she said.

(IANS)

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