Crime Branch (CB) ADG Soumendra Priyadarshi on Wednesday appeared before the Orissa High Court through videoconferencing in connection with a petition filed over the gang-rape of a minor girl in Bhubaneswar by some employees of private news channel OTV.
The police official submitted a probe status report in the court and appraised it regarding the arrest of four accused in the case.
The High Court directed for providing protection to lawyer Gautam Siddique, one of the petitioners, as he had earlier informed the court about suspicious activities near his residence.
The next hearing in the matter will be held in January.The Bharatiya Bikash Parishad has filed a petition in the High Court seeking a CBI probe into the gang-rapecase and compensation of Rs 30 lakh for the victim.
The Crime Branch police had on December 14 arrested two OTV employees Aniruddha Panda and Krushna Behera and two security guards Sribascha Samal and Bijaya Rout for their alleged involvement in the offence.
As per a complaint lodged by the mother of the victim with the Odisha State Commission for Protection of Child Rights (OSCPCR), the girl was gang-raped by several OTV employees for around 15 days during the month of April and May.
The girl’s mother was working as a receptionist in the OTV. The accused committed the offence after tying the hands and legs of the girl. They also recorded videos of the incident and threatened the victim to leak it, alleged the girl’s mother.