In a fresh twist to the molestation and burning to death of a female teacher in Odisha, senior BJP leader Bijay Mohapatra today claimed that the prime accused was given shelter at the official quarters of a minister from undivided Koraput district.
The prime accused, sub-inspector of schools Netranand Dandsena, who has since been dismissed from service, had stayed in the state capital while he was absconding, Mohapatra claimed but did not disclose the name of the minister.
Asked about the identity of the minister who allegedly sheltered Dandsena, Mohapatra said, "The director general of police should be knowing about all this."
"I ask Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to order an inquiry into the matter ... It is a very serious matter and the state government should not take it lightly," he said.
Mohapatra demanded the arrest of the district collector and police superintendent under Section 217 of the IPC as they did not take action promptly which encouraged miscreants to set the teacher on fire.
The DGP is also liable under the same section of IPC.
Reacting to the charge, state School and Mass Education minister Rabinarayan Nanda, who is one of the three ministers hailing from undivided Koraput district, said Dandasena had never taken shelter in his official residence.
Police personnel had been searching for Dandsena after the woman teacher of Tikiri Upper Primary School in Rayagada district lodged a complaint at police station in July this year. He was arrested only on October 30 from Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border, three days after the teacher was set on fire by miscreants while she was sleeping in the hostel.
She succumbed to her injuries at a hospital in Vishakhapatnam on November 1.
Meanwhile, the person who poured kerosene and set the teacher on fire is still at large and the police crime branch which is probing the case yet could not make much progress in the matter.
The Odisha Police Officers Association met chief secretary J K Mohapatra during the day and strongly opposed the dismissal of two police officers from service in connection with the case.
