Kunduli incident: Odisha Crime Branch presents stand on attack on media

Bhubaneswar: Odisha Crime Branch today released a press statement on allegations of deviating from the direction of the investigation into the gang rape and suicide of a minor girl of Kunduli and attempting to throttle and harass media for carrying out its duties.

As per the press release from the Crime Branch authorities, three journalists from OTV, after receiving summon had visited its Economic Offences Wing (EOW) office in Bhubaneswar on April 5 where their statements were recorded in presence of their lawyer in a cordial environment.

"There was no attempt whatsoever to undermine the freedom of press as it is being made out to be. CID-Crime Branch and Odisha Police have utmost respect for media and its important role in our democratic setup," read the press release.

The Crime Branch treats every witness with dignity and fairness including media persons. There is no question of forcing anyone to reveal any information unwillingly, it stated in the release.

"Examination of the witnesses concerned in the instant case is legally, morally and ethically correct and CID-CB has just done its duty by doing so," it added.

Rather, by obtaining the documents pertaining to the Kunduli gang rape and suicide case, illegally from the State Forensic Science Laboratory, Bhubaneswar, the professional investigating institution was shown in bad light, the investigating agency alleged.

Attempt was made to tarnish the image and credibility of the organisation falsely and mischievously, the Crime Branch alleged.

Such an attempt again reflects that the Crime Branch continues to digress from the actual probe and is trying its best to defend its attempt to force media to disclose its sources. The agency, in the release did not provide any clarification about how the preliminary forensic report of SFSL showed presence of semen of two persons on the victim’s clothes while the final report of the Central Forensic Laboratory completely ruled it out.

Moreover, question arises if the investigating agency needed the support of the journalists and claims that OTV personnel willingly came and the examination was conducted in a cordial environment; why they had to summon the concerned persons and forced them to reveal their source of information. While, the Crime Branch clarified that OTV's advocate was present during the interrogation of the journalists, it is not completely true. The advocate was not present during one-to-one interrogation of the three OTV representatives.

Startlingly, the Crime Branch instead of issuing the release directly to mass media, posted it in a private WhatsApp group consisting of few media personnel.

Crime Branch SP Radhabinod Panigrahi on April 6 had said, "As the report had been transmitted on mass media, we had to know the source of leakage. There is no question of harassment; the investigating officer may have called them for interrogation, so you all should cooperate.”