A BJP central team led by its Mahila Morcha chief Vanathi Srinivasan on Friday met the family members of a schoolteacher who was allegedly murdered by the president of the school management committee in Kalahandi district of Odisha.

The visit comes a day after a Congress delegation led by AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala met Mamita Meher’s family at her native Jharani village in Bolangir.

With central leaders of both the Congress and BJP meeting Mamita’s family, pressure is mounting on chief minister Naveen Patnaik to sack minister of state for home Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra for his alleged link to the murder accused. However, Naveen continues to maintain a stoic silence on the issue.

Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Bhakta Charan Das questioned Mishra and the chief minister’s silence on the issue. “Why does Captain Mishra remain silent? Silence only indicates admission of guilt. Why are the chief minister and his office not coming up with a clarification?” questioned Das.

Even Surjewala on Thursday had pointed out how Odisha topped in crimes against women and the BJD government has remained silent over the issue. “The minister must be removed for an impartial probe into the case and all accused persons should be hanged to provide justice to the family of the deceased. The state has been turned into ‘Crime Pradesh’ by the Biju Janata Dal,” he had said, adding that the killers enjoyed power and privilege.

The Congress has demanded a probe by a SIT (special investigation team) headed by the chief justice of Orissa High court.

Mamita was killed for allegedly threatening to expose the extramarital affair of Govinda Sahu, president of the school management committee, according to sources.

The BJP on Friday also organised a protest rally in Berhampur and hurled eggs and tomatoes at police. It launched a three-day agitation to lay siege to all 635 police stations across the state demanding the resignation of Mishra. It had already observed a 12-hour bandh in various districts of western Odisha.

However, the BJD continued to maintain the law and order situation during the Naveen government was better compared to any other dispensation.

The state government is in a fix as the police had not registered an FIR for five days after Mamita Meher had gone missing on October 8. When pressure mounted, the police registered the FIR and arrested Sahu. But later Sahu managed to escape from the police barracks. The police re-arrested the main accused on October 19 from a sugarcane field and later recovered Mamita’s body from an 8ft pit in an under-construction stadium.