Opposition questions locus standi of SIT probe into minor girl’s murder case in Odisha

Bhubaneswar, Dec 10 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress on Thursday raised questions over the power of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) formed by the Odisha government to probe the murder of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district in July this year.
BJP’s Odisha in-charge Daggubati Purandeswari, who visited Jadupur village in Nayagarh district and met the parents of the deceased on Thursday, said the SIT headed by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra has no judicial powers.
“When the SIT and its chief have no judicial powers, how will they investigate the case? Taking this into consideration, we demand a CBI probe into the case,” she said.
It is not only a matter of brutal murder of a minor girl, but there is also the involvement of an organ smuggling racket in the case, she said.
The state government had constituted the SIT headed by Bothra, who is also the CMD of Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC), to probe the case.
Purandeswari also demanded resignation of state minister Arun Kumar Sahoo for allegedly shielding the accused.