Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is under pressure to sack minister of state for home Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra who is under attack from the Opposition for his alleged patronage to Gobinda Sahu, the main accused in the brutal murder of school teacher Mamita Meher in Kalahandi district. Mamita was killed for allegedly threatening to expose the extramarital affair of Sahu, who is the president of the school management committee where she was working.

While the BJP on Thursday organised a “bandh” in Bolangir, the native district of Mamita, demanding the resignation of Mishra, who hails from Kalahandi and is said to be close to Sahu, National Commission for Women (NCW) chairperson Rekha Sharma urged Naveen to remove the minister whose name has surfaced in the criminal cases to ensure a fair probe.

The commission will wait for 15 days for the response and then might send a team to Odisha for a review of the case. “We are awaiting a response from the Odisha government. We want the chief minister should take a note of the atrocities against women which is rising gradually in the state and a strong political will is required to put a check on such incidents,” Sharma said.

The NCW has also shot off a letter Director General of Police (DGP) Abhay to immediately arrest all the accused involved in the Mamita murder case and provide safety to the family of the victim.

BJP leaders met Odisha Human Rights Commission seeking action against Mishra and justice for the family of Mamita whose body was allegedly chopped off after murder and then an attempt was made to destroy evidence by burning the body parts.

A public interest litigation was filed in the Orissa High Court seeking a probe by the CBI into the murder of Mamita whose half-charred body was exhumed from a stadium construction site of Sunshine English Medium School at Mahaling in Kalahandi district on October 19. She was a teacher in the school and Sahu the president of the school management committee.

The PIL filed by social organisation, Bharatiya Bikash Parishad, has demanded a CBI probe into the case and sought Rs 50 lakh compensation for the next kin of the deceased.

Preliminary investigation reveals that the 24-year teacher Mamita was murdered by Sahu. Sahu, who had escaped from the custody of Titlagarh police, was nabbed on October 19 from a sugarcane field where he had been reportedly hiding.

Mamita’s family had earlier alleged that she had mysteriously disappeared after accompanying Sahu in his car to Bhawanipatna on October 8. Mamita had threatened Sahu to expose his extra-marital affairs and the sex racket he was running in the school. Sahu is believed to have eliminated her in a bid to seek revenge and hide his immoral activities.

Odisha State Commission for Women has also served a notice to SPs of Balangir and Kalahandi districts asking them to submit probe reports in Mamita murder case within 15 days.

However, ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) has urged the BJP and other parties to refrain from politicising the issue. “While political leaders are going to attend a meeting, many people click their photos with them. It does not indicate that the leaders are responsible for the crimes perpetrated by people seen in the photographs with them. Anyone committing a crime should be punished. Police have already arrested the accused and many more are likely to be arrested,” said BJD spokesperson and senior MLA Pramilla Mallick.

She also rejected the demand for a CBI inquiry into the murder. “We also want justice for Mamita’s family but we have faith in our police. We will ensure the culprits are punished. When a BJP central minister’s son mowed down farmers in UP no action was taken against him for a long time. Police acted only after pressure mounted. Why did the BJP leaders not demand for a CBI probe into the Lakhimpur Kheri incident?” asked Pramila.