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Justice Mishra to inquire into Anjana gang-rape case

Justice P K Mishra will inquire into the Anjana Mishra gang-rape case.

The Orissa government has requested him to finalise the report at the earliest.

According to an official notification, the commission has the following topics for reference.

They are: the circumstances under which Anjana Mishra had to undertake the journey on the night of January 9 from Bhubaneswar to Cuttack which led to the tragic incident; whether there was any security lapse leading to her journey without being accompanied by police personnel and the circumstances under which Gutanu Guru of OTV accompanied her in the journey.

Secondly, the facts and circumstances relating to the tragic incident, persons responsible for the commission of the crime and involvement of persons or organisations, if any, other than the actual perpetrators of the crime.

The announcement came close on the heels of Orissa Chief Minister J B Patnaik's meeting with Congress president Sonia Gandhi today. He apprised her of the situation in the state following the gang-rape.

During the 20-minute meeting, Patnaik gave a detailed account of the steps initiated by the state administration in the case.

Asked if Sonia Gandhi inquired why he had turned down the demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the episode, the chief minister replied in the negative.

As regards initiating disciplinary action against the dissidents, Patnaik said, ''Wait and see.''

He said since the Anjana Mishra case was a straight one, the inquiry could not take more than a month. ''We will request the judge to complete his inquiry as soon as possible,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Anjana Mishra yesterday identified one of the three accused in a test identification parade.

The parade was conducted in the presence of a judicial magistrate inside the Choudwar jail, about 15 km from Cuttack, where accused Pradeep Sahu alias Padia has been sent for a 15-day judicial remand after his bail plea was rejected on Tuesday.

According to jail sources, the accused was also identified by taxi driver Nilakantha Rout, in whose vehicle the crime was reportedly committed on Saturday night.

News editor of a private television channel Sutanu Guru, another key witness of the case who accompanied Anjana Mishra from Bhubaneswar, however, failed to identify the accused, the sources said. Guru instead pointed to another person during the parade, sources said.

Padia had already confessed before the police his crime after a special squad of the state police nabbed him from Godi Sahi village in Choudwar.

Two other accused, including a leprosy patient, are since absconding. The case is being investigated by the crime branch under the direct supervision of its Inspector General Indrajit Jachak.

UNI

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