Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Monday accused the state government of destroying evidence in the Kunduli gang rape case and dared Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to order a CBI or a court monitored SIT probe. The CM should hang his head in shame, he should resign, said Pradhan while playing out a recording purportedly of the victim where she is heard alleging that the police had tried to buy her silence by offering Rs 90,000.

Isn’t this enough for the CM to take action on the errant DG, asked Pradhan. Where is the suicide note of the victim, he questioned. The rape and suicide of a dalit girl is being covered up and evidence destroyed by the state government, said the Union Minister with full responsibility.

There are series of glaring things – two contradictory reports of the forensic lab, the statements of the victim and the complete silence of the CM who happens to be the home minister, stated Pradhan. The Union Minister said the erstwhile Congress government in the state had been voted out as it had behaved in a similar arrogant fashion why trying to cover up the Anjana Mishra rape case and tampering with forensic reports.

Sadly, the BJD leaders who say that let the Home Ministry conduct a probe as the victim had levelled allegations of gang rape by armed men in camouflage combat uniform• in an area where BSF, CRPF etc are deployed, Pradhan said nobody should be spared.

But the Odisha government has written to the NHRC stating no central paramilitary force or SOG of the state was present in the area. Replying to a question on the government having ordered a judicial inquiry, Pradhan said everyone in Odisha knows the fate of all commission of inquiries set up by the Naveen Patnaik government over the last 17 years.

Meanwhile a BJP central team led by Saroja Pande visited the village in Koraput district on a fact finding mission as directed by party president Amit Shah today. Ms Pande met the family of the deceased and interacted with villagers. She told media persons that the state government was trying to cover up the incident and the Chief Minister should order a CBI probe.

Promptly countering Pradhan, the BJD spokesperson and MP, P K Deb held a media conference and said “ the BJP has shown that it does not have faith in the judiciary”. The state government has nothing to hide, it has ordered a judicial probe, he said while iterating that Pradhan should ask Home Minister Rajnath Singh to conduct an internal inquiry since the first charge levelled by the victim was against para military forces.

The BJP is trying to politicised the unfortunate incident. Why should the government cover-up the case, the allegations are not against any BJD leader or worker, he noted. It may be noted that a dalit minor girl of Kuduli in Koraput district had alleged on 10 October 2017 that she had been gang raped. She was admitted to the hospital where medical teams, as per the police examined and found no signs of rape. The victim committed suicide on 22 January 2018.