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Responding to the Minister of State (Home) Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra’s claims that he was not involved in any way in the death of Kalahandi school teacher Mamita Meher, Congress MLA Santosh Singh Saluja on Tuesday said that Mishra was trying to mislead people through his statement.
“If he is actually innocent as per his own statement, he should surrender his mobile phone with the Police to help ascertain his location from September 20 till 23,” said the Congress MLA from Kantabanji.
“If he (Mishra) was in Kantabanji, it is entirely possible for him to visit Raipur, conduct a meeting and come back on the same day as Raipur is only 3-hr drive from here,” Saluja said.
Slamming Mishra for attempting to influence the probe, Saluja said it was possible as the former is still holding the chair of the Home Ministry. “People need to know the vital call data records of Mamita and Gobinda’s mobile phones. Where were they in those four days? But all these details have been shrouded under mystery. We do not even know who has the call records, whether it is the SP or the IG,” Saluja said.
Saluja further said that Mamita’s entire family has levelled allegations against Mishra stating that the Minister was a frequent visitor to the school campus. “And the Police are not taking it seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile, a member of the BJP Yuva Morcha (BJYM) confronted Mishra while the Minister was on his way to his Constituency in Junagarh from Bhawanipatna, asking the latter to step down.
BJYM Working Committee member Deepjyoti Mund said, “I asked him (Mishra) why he kept mum for 23 days after Mamita was murdered. His protracted silence speaks of his involvement in all the murky deals.”
It is pertinent to mention here that seeking to give himself a clean chit in the controversies surrounding his involvement in the case, Mishra in a two-page statement issued on October 29, said as an MLA as well as an ex-Air Force Officer he had attended functions at many educational institutions. “In fact public representatives are supposed to attend functions in educational institutions. Therefore, a crime occurring at any of these institutions which I visited as a guest for functions cannot be attributed to me,” Mishra said.
He had also Invoked Maa Manikeswari, the presiding deity of Bhawanipatna, to claim that that he had nothing to do with the crime.
