Bhubaneswar: A day after the Odisha government tabled the probe report of the Commission of Inquiry on Kunduli gang rape & suicide case, Opposition parties today raised questions over the report.
It may be noted that the Orissa High Court on Friday directed the State government to complete the probe into the case and submit its report within four weeks. The court had also suggested the State government to constitute a Special Investigation Team (SIT) consisting of Central and State agencies to investigate the case if the inquiry report is not satisfactory.
However, a day after the High Court’s directive, the State government tabled the report in the Assembly which questioned the role of the victim’s family members and political parties, while terming the whole case a mystery that will require further probe.
Surprisingly, even after recording statements of 19 witnesses in connection with the case, the Commission of Inquiry could not unearth the truth behind the case.
The development has now spurred the Opposition political parties to train their guns on the State government and also question the truth behind the report.
While the Congress has levelled allegations of attempts on stage-management of witnesses to manipulate the probe findings, the BJP has criticised the State government for coming out with the report which was submitted a year ago.
“Everyone knows that a report stating the truth of the rape allegations had surfaced but where did it go, no one knows. How and who changed the report is also obscure. So it shows how severely the findings have been manipulated. Even if the Commission had prepared the report on the basis of the witnesses, it is also a possibility that they might have been stage managed to suppress the entire incident,” said OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik.
BJP leader Kharabela Swain questioned as to why the government was sitting over the report without publishing it in the public domain.
However, BJD MLA and government chief whip Pramila Mallick said, "The Commission will continue with the probe if it thinks that is necessary so there is nothing to be anxious about the truth behind it.”