The entire Opposition, both Congress and BJP members, on Tuesday staged a walkout in the Assembly in protest against Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik’s outright rejection of their demand for referring the killing of Tikiri schoolteacher Itishree Pradhan to CBI for a fair investigation.
On the contrary, the Chief Minister assured that the concerns expressed by the members would be addressed by the investigation being undertaken by the State Crime Branch. The issue had rocked the Assembly since Saturday last with leader of Opposition Bhupinder Singh along with his party colleagues resorting to an indefinite dharna in the well, demanding a reply by the Chief Minister on the admitted notice of adjournment on the issue.
Normalcy had returned in the House as the Government had conceded to their demand on Monday. Replying to the debate on Tuesday, Patnaik asserted that the Government would leave no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of the case and provide justice to the bereaved family of the deceased.
He reiterated that all the concerns expressed by the members in the House would be addressed by the investigation being undertaken by the State Crime Branch and extremely stringent action would be taken against those found guilty. The State Government taking the case very seriously had handed over the investigation of the case to the State Crime Branch immediately after the sad demise of Itishree. The CB is making a thorough investigation into all aspects of the case, he said.
Defending the steps of the State Government as far as probe is concerned, the Chief Minister said, “Even the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had subsequently asked us to get the matter investigated by the State Crime Branch.” The investigation of the case is in progress under the direct supervision of senior officers of the CB and the Special Public Prosecutor of the CB has been appointed to conduct the prosecution, he said.
“It is my personal conviction and commitment of my Government that nobody is above law and time and again, my Government has proved the same,” he said.