Citing utter dissatisfaction over probe of the Odisha Police, as many as 21 families who have lost their members to alleged murders have sought intervention of the President of India and the Chief Justice of The Supreme Court for justice.
The aggrieved families under the aegis of Bharatiya Bikash Parishad (BBP) on Monday issued an earnest appeal to the President of India to direct the government for handing over the murder cases of their members for probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.
The families of the victims have said that they would submit a memorandum in this connection to the President of India demanding probe by the central agency or else they may be allowed to take their own lives.
The families alleged that all these 21 cases have had alleged involvement of either a State government Minister or a BJD leader, the reason behind Police soft pedalling the cases.
RTI activist, Sanjukta Mohapatra said, “We want to question the government over the transparency of probe. If the families of the victims do not find the probe satisfactory how will they expect a fair judgement in the case.”
Apart from that, the BBP also questioned the role of the Court in all these cases. Surendra Panigrahi, the President of BBP said, “Even in the Mamita murder case, we sent memo to the court, following which the case went to the listing section. But it miraculously disappeared from the list after finalisation of dates.”
This is a usual occurrence in whatever memo we submit in the Courts. From custodial deaths in Golanthara and Bargarh to Mamita murder case. Our memos always disappear from the list during allotment of dates of hearing,” alleged Panigrahi.
It is pertinent to mention here that, the winter session of the Odisha Assembly is set to start from December 1. And the Opposition has geared up to target the government over the law and order situation in the State, particularly in the backdrop of the sensational Mamita Meher murder case.