Call for CBI probe into death of lady assistant collector and ASI

ROURKELA: The mysterious death of assistant collector Sushmita Minz and assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of police Alice Narmi Lugun has led to a clamour for a CBI probe into both cases. On Tuesday, a large gathering of tribals led by former Birmitrapur MLA George Tirkey staged a protest before the office of Rourkela SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra. Terming the deaths as murder, the agitators sent a memorandum to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik through the SP demanding a CBI investigation into the two cases.

Similarly, the Odisha president of BJP Mahila Morcha Aiswarya Biswal sought a CBI probe into both incidents. Family members of Lugun also gheraoed Uditnagar police station for a couple of hours on the day. After meeting the SP, they relented and took possession of the ASI’s body

Tirkey said the tribals are not satisfied with the probe launched by the Investigative Unit on Crime Against Women (IUCAW) deputy SP Banita Majhi into the assistant collector’s drowning death. Even as police insisted that there was no link between the deaths of Minz and the ASI, Tirkey claimed both cases were connected. He further alleged that ASI Lugun was in charge of the security of the assistant collector.

Similarly, Biswal held the state government responsible for the death of the two tribal officers. “The government failed to provide safe work environment to the women officers. The two mysterious deaths in just 15 days have raised suspicions in the mind of tribal people against the BJD government,” she claimed.

The Mahila Morcha chief rejected the assistant collector’s autopsy report which said the officer died due to drowning while ruling out the possibility of homicide. She claimed Minz’s body bore multiple injury marks. There was also a whiff of murder in the ASI’s sudden and mysterious death.

A fact-finding team of BJP led by Sundargarh MLA Kusum Tete would visit the villages of the victims and also draw the attention of the National Commission for Scheduled Tribes to the murders, Biswal added.

A day back, Congress workers had staged a protest demanding a CBI inquiry into both deaths. Assistant collector Minz was found dead in the pond of Sensory Park here on September 19. The ASI died mysteriously while managing a law and order situation at a road accident site on October 1.