Hundreds of tribal men and women under the aegis of the Adibasi Mahasangha, Rayagada, congregated in front of district SP’s office and presented a memorandum for the President of India through the SP.
They were led by tribal leaders and Mahasangh’s office bearers namely Basanta Ulaka and Appalaswamy Kadraka. Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Rayagada, Tapan Narayan Rath received the memorandum which demanded a CBI inquiry into the death of late Bhagirathi Mandingi.
According to the Mahasangha, Bhagirathi, a crusader against corruption in the Majhighariani Temple Trust, was himself a member in the Trust itself. He raised questions about the misappropriation by the Managing Trustee, who happened to be the brother of Rajya Sabha BJD member N Bhaskar Rao.
After receiving a telephonic message from the temple managing committee on 2010, Bhagirathi drove to the temple with his motorbike, but unfortunately, he went missing though his motor bike was parked in front of the temple. After three days, his charred body was found floating on a river dam in the adjacent State of Andhra Pradesh.
Mahasangha members put the blame on N Bhaskar Rao for hatching a plot in murdering Bhagirathi. They also blamed the police for taking no action against the perpetrators of the crime. A Crime Branch-CID inquiry was also a futile exercise under the influence of Rao, who belonged to ruling BJD.
The Mahasangha members had alleged that because of the inefficient law enforcing agencies of the State Government, the culprits were still roamong scot free since last ten years. The members had requested the President of India to intervene and institute a CBI inquiry in stead of CB-CID and render justice to the poor tribals.
Notably, during August 2018, former Minister and former Koraput MP and Mahasangha leader Basanta Ulaka had met Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan in Delhi and Pradhan had requested Home Minister Rajanath Singh to take up Mandingi’s case by the CBI. “Nobody knows the status of the written request to a Central Minister by another central minister. Instead of following up at the level of those Central Ministers, again raising the issue of CBI inquiry by Mahasangha after more than a year seems mechanical and may not lead to a logical end,” said State convenor of Odisha Adibasi Manch Bidulata Huika.
Rao vehemently refuted the charges as he had done the same earlier. He said these allegations had become old. “I have also lost two of my brothers, who were murdered in broad daylight within the temple premises. The matter is sub-judice. There is no question of exerting influence."