Bhubaneswar, Oct 29 (PTI) Odisha Minister of State for Home D S Mishra, whose sacking is being demanded by the Opposition for his alleged closeness with the prime accused in the abduction and murder of a woman teacher, opened up for the first time on Friday and claimed that he has nothing to with the incident hours after BJP targetted Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

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Mishra has been in the eye of the storm since the prime accused in the case escaped from police custody on October 17 night. The minister is being accused by the Opposition of shielding the prime accused, also the president of the English medium private school where the woman teacher worked.

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Claiming innocence, Mishra in his two-page statement said he had quit the high paying job of a pilot and had joined politics to serve the people of Junagarh (his constituency) and Kalahandi district.

“I swear in the name of Maa Manikeswari on whom I as well as people of Kalahandi, have deep faith in, that I have nothing to do with this offence (the kidnap and murder of the teacher)," he said.

On his long silence in the matter, Mishra said “I have always believed that in sensitive heinous offences law enforcement agencies should act in a free and fair manner so that the accused meet the ends of justice. Hence, I always avoided commenting on the heinous offence. But I felt the need to give a statement as this smear campaign has been affecting my family”.

His statement came some hours after a BJP Mahila Morcha delegation met the victim's family at the residence in a village in Bolangir district and the party's firebrand MP Aparajita Sarangi demanded that Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik issue a statement.

“Let the CM lead the state from the front and announce in public that his minister is innocent,” the Bhubaneswar MP told reporters.

Sarangi asked the chief minister, who also holds the home portfolio, to come out and face the people "instead of running the government by proxy.”

The minister in his statement said that he is deeply saddened and anguished by the unfortunate death of the teacher. "I am a father and I can understand the trauma the family must be going through. My deepest condolences to the family of the teacher. The guilty must be given strictest punishment as per law,” he said.

Mishra said that he was shocked over the manner in which certain sections of the media launched a “malicious character assassination” campaign based on falsehood and hurt his family.

He said his family has filed criminal and civil defamation cases against three media groups for defaming and character assassination with false, malicious and wild allegations for furthering their narrow personal and political gain.

“I would urge the opposition political parties and media, if you have an iota of evidence against me in this matter (the case), then please take it to the police or the courts. I will not only resign from my position but will also retire from public life. But don't indulge in smear campaigns with personal political agenda,” he said.

Mishra said he had visited the school at Mahaling in Kalahandi district, of which the prime accused is the president as he did in many eductaional institutions as an MLA and an ex-Air Force officer. “Therefore, a crime happening in any one of the institutions that I have visited as a guest for a function cannot be attributed to me”.

Mentioning his background in the Armed Forces, Mishra said “In the Air Force, I learnt one thing - to sacrifice oneself but to ensure that not one civilian is hurt. When I joined politics, I brought the same philosophy from my Air Force days. That though I suffer, not even a single person should suffer. From the time I entered public life, I have focused on the development of my constituency, Junagarh in Kalahandi,” he said.

The BJP Mahila Morcha delegation, comprising its chief Vanathi Srinivasan, MP Sunita Duggal and MLA from West Bengal Sreerupa Mitra Chaudhury, had an hour long discussion with the family members of the victim, who went missing on October 8. Her body was exhumed from a depth of 10 feet in the school playground on October 19.

“We will submit the on-the-spot finding report to BJP president J P Nadda Ji and demand the resignation of the minister. There should be a CBI probe into the incident,” Srinivasan said.

Duggal said the Morcha delegation supports the victim's family members' demand of death sentence for the culprits.

BJP Yuva Morcha activists staged demonstrations in different districts demanding that the minister be sacked. They scuffled with the police during a protest outside the office of the Berhampur superintendent of police when the activists broke the barricades and hurled eggs and tomatoes at the force personnel who tried to stop them from entering the police station.

While one police man was injured in the scuffle, a number of protestors were detained to avoid any untoward incidents.

The party has announced its programme to stage demonstration before all 625 police stations across the state in the next three days and file FIR against Mishra demanding his arrest in the teacher murder case.

Congress announced that it will intensify its stir if the minister is not sacked and arrested by October 30. The announcement was made by senior party leader Bhakta Charan Das, who too hails from Kalahandi.

All India Democratic Students Organisation, the student front of SUCI, too staged a demonstration.

Transgenders joined the protests against the minister on Friday. They held a demonstration here demanding action against the minister. The TG Surakhya Trust also demanded a CBI probe into the teacher's murder.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)