Congress workers hold placards and banners in protest against Divya Shankar Mishra being linked to the murder of female teacher Mamita Meher, in Bhubaneswar. file | Photo credit: The Hindu
Main accused Gobind Sahu murder of teacher mamita meheR, ended his life inside a jail in Odisha’s Balangir district before being produced before a local court on December 20.
Mamita Mehar was a teacher at Sunshine English Medium School, Mahaling in Kalahandi district. She went missing on October 8, 2021 and her body parts were found buried under soil on October 19, 2021. She was allegedly strangulated to death by the promoter of the school, Gobina Sahu.
According to the police, Shahu killed Meher so that she could not reveal his extramarital affair.
The assassination had created a massive political controversy as opposition political parties accused Shahu of being a close aide. Divya Shankar MishraFormer Minister of State for Home in the Naveen Patnaik government and accused him of shielding Shahu.
Despite strong demands by the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress to sack Mr. Mishra, the chief minister of Odisha did not sack him. He was later dropped from the cabinet during the general cabinet reshuffle.
Shahu was alleged to have ended his life in Kantabanji jail in Balangir district. He was declared dead by the doctors. Kantabanji MLA and Congress leader Santosh Singh Saluja alleged that he was being put under immense mental pressure due to the rejection of his bail plea by the Orissa High Court. Shahu’s trial was going on in the Judicial Magistrate First Class Kantabanji of Balangir district.
Right from the beginning of the case, the opposition had put the state government in the dock. During interrogation, Sahu managed to pass the slip to the police from the police barrack.
Following the controversy, the Orissa HC had nominated former district judge ABS Naidu to supervise the probe. The state government had requested the Orissa High Court to nominate a sitting or retired judge of the high court or a district and sessions judge to oversee the investigation in the Mamita Meher murder case.
Mr. Saluja demanded an inquiry into the circumstances under which Shahu ended his life inside the jail. BJP Mahila Morcha president Smriti Patnaik said it sounds strange, but accused in high profile murder cases, in which involvement of ministers was alleged, were dying under mysterious circumstances.
Prafulla Biswal, accused of murdering BJP leader and his aide Kulmani Baral, was found dead in 2021 under mysterious circumstances at Nuabadal Chowk in Tangi area of Cuttack. The role of former state law minister Pratap Jena in the murder was also probed. ,