Pari Row: Demand for Arun’s Dismissal Rocks Assembly

Bhubaneswar (Reporters Today Bureau): The winter session of the Odisha Assembly today witnessed a scenes  of uproar as opposition parties created ruckus in the House demanding dismissal of minister Arun Kumar Sahoo in connection with the murder of five-year-old girl Pari of Jadupur village in Nayagarh. As the House assembled for today, the BJP and Congress members resorted to sloganeering near the Speaker’s podium demanding the Arun’s dismissal. The BJP MLAs were seen holding placards and banners featuring photos of Arun with accused Babuli Nayak.

Amid pandemonium, Speaker Surjya Narayan Patra adjourned the House initially for 20 minutes and then till 3 PM. “We will not allow functioning of the House till resignation of Minister Arun Sahoo. The Crime Branch probe order into the case is not acceptable as such investigations in many cases were ordered by the CM in the past. However, reports of the probes were never placed in the Assembly,” said Opposition chief whip Mohan Majhi while speaking to newsmen outside the House.

On the other hand, Congress member Tara Prasad Bahinipati demanded a High Court-monitored SIT probe in the matter. Notably, the Government has directed the Crime Branch to probe into the case. The deceased girl’s parents had on November 24 attempted self-immolation outside the Assembly demanding justice for their daughter. Alleging police inaction in the case, the couple accused minister Arun Sahoo of shielding accused Babuli Nayak. They claimed that Nayak is a close aide of the Nayagarh MLA.

The child had gone missing while playing in front of her house on July 14. Later on July 23, her decomposed body was found packed in a sack behind the house near a pond. Her parents alleged that Nayak had kidnapped and murdered their daughter.