BJP, Congress MLAs disrupt Odisha Assembly proceedings for 4th day over murder of 5-year-old girl

Bhubaneswar: The Opposition BJP and Congress MLAs disrupted the proceedings of the Odisha Assembly for the fourth consecutive day on Saturday over the kidnapping and murder of 5-year-old girl ‘Pari’ even as the state government clarified that the SIT probe will be court monitored. The issue was raised in the Assembly by Congress Legislature Party leader Narasingha Mishra as soon as the House assembled for the day. The BJP members reiterated their demand for removal of Sahoo from the Cabinet as his role in providing protection to the main accused in the Pari kidnap and murder case is not clear. They said the police has not been able to arrest any accused person in the little girl’s kidnap and murder case even though over four months have passed since the incident. Leader of Opposition PK Naik of BJP accused Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik of shielding the agriculture minister instead of giving justice to the victim’s family. His party has been demanding a CBI probe into the incident and dismissal of Sahoo from the Cabinet. Naik said his party’s demands of a CBI probe into the matter and dismissal of the agriculture minister were yet to be met. The BJP members will continue to agitate in the Assembly and outside till the victims family gets justice. “Pari kidnap and murder case is not a small incident. The girl went missing on 14 July and her skeletal remains were found in the backyard of her house on 23 July. Her organs have been removed and might have been transplanted in the body of some rich family’s child. Therefore, we demand a CBI probe into the incident,” Naik said. The saffron party members also rejected the state governments Crime Branch inquiry and Special Investigative Team (SIT) probe into the 14 July incident when the little girl was kidnapped and killed allegedly by supporters of the Agriculture minister. Though the Pari kidnapping and murder incident took place more than four months ago, it came to the limelight only after the victims parents — Ashok Sahu and Soudamini — attempted self-immolation in front of the Assembly on Tuesday. The issue has since been rocking the Assembly. As the issue rocked the proceeding of the Assembly, the chief minister on Friday announced an SIT probe. However, the opposition members raised questions on the sincerity of the government. The chief minister’s statement was confusing, the BJP and Congress members alleged. Patnaik in his statement had said: “If SIT investigation is what is required, the state government will take steps in this regard and do it immediately. My government is always committed to free and fair investigation and we always want justice to be done.” Parliamentary Affairs Minister BK Arukha in a clarification said that a notification in regard to the SIT formation will soon be issued by the Home Department. “The SIT will be a court monitored probe,” Arukha informed the House. However, the Parliamentary Affairs Ministers clarification could not satisfy the opposition members who continued to stage demonstrations in the well of the House. Unable to run the proceeding, Speaker SN Patro adjourned the House till 3 pm. CLP leader Narasingha Mishra also drew the Speaker’s attention and said that the Minister of State, Home DS Mishras statement on the Pari case was not a full-fledged one. “The MOS, Home only touched upon one aspect related to the case while omitting the other three aspects conveniently”, Mishra alleged. He said the MOS’s statement did not include on the role of the Agriculture minister in shielding the main accused in the Pari kidnap and murder case.