Cuttack: The Orissa High Court Thursday asked the state government to file a status report on the investigation into the kidnap and murder of Mahaling school teacher in Kalahandi Mamita Meher.
A single-judge bench court of Justice Biswajit Mohanty, while adjudicating over the petition filed by the victim’s father Tuesday, asked the government pleader to submit the status report within a week.
The next hearing in the case has been scheduled to be held December 3. The teacher’s father had approached the High Court seeking direction to the police to conduct an impartial investigation, and fast-track trial of the case.
The petitioner had claimed that delay in completion of the investigation was putting huge mental pressure on the family members of the victim.
State Home Secretary, DGP, Bolangir Collector, Bolangir SP, and Sindhekela police station IIC have been made respondents in the case.
Bolangir police have arrested two persons, including the prime accused, Gobinda Sahu, who is president of the school managing committee where the teacher worked.
The prime accused had October 17 night escaped from police custody and was apprehended by the law enforcers two days later.
The police said that the prime accused had confessed to the crime before them, saying he had murdered the teacher by strangulating her in his car.
The entire state is on the boil for over a month with the opposition parties demanding the dismissal of Minister of State for Home, Dibya Shankar Mishra, for his alleged close links with the prime accused.
Meanwhile, Bharatiya Vikash Parishad Thursday filed an interim application and sought the HC intervention to include the MoS, Home, Sambalpur DIG and Bolangir SP in the investigation into the murder case.
The outfit also urged the HC to direct the investigating officers to examine the laptop, mobile phone and call records of the deceased teacher.
Opposition political parties are demanding Mishra’s ouster to pave way for an impartial investigation into the murder case.
PNN