Cuttack/Bhubaneswar, Nov 18 (PTI) The Orissa High Court on Thursday asked the state government to file a status report on the investigation into the kidnap and murder case of a woman teacher in Kalahandi district.

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The single bench court of Justice Biswajit Mohanty, while adjudicating over the petition filed by the victim's father on Tuesday, asked the government pleader to submit the status report within a week.

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The next hearing in the case has been scheduled to be held on December 3.

The teacher's father had approached the High Court seeking direction to the police to conduct an impartial investigation, and fast-track trial of the case.

The petitioner had claimed that the delay in the completion of the investigation was putting huge mental pressure on the family members of the victim.

State Home Secretary, DGP, Bolangir Collector, Bolangir SP, and Sindhekela police station IIC have been made respondents in the case.

The Bolangir police have arrested two persons, including the prime accused, who is president of the school managing committee where the teacher worked.

The prime accused had on October 17 night escaped from police custody and he was apprehended by the law enforcers two days later.

The police said that the prime accused had confessed to the crime before them, saying he had murdered the teacher by strangulating her in his car.

The entire state is on the boil for over a month with the opposition parties demanding the dismissal of Minister of State for Home, D S Mishra, for his alleged close links with the prime accused.

Opposition political parties are demanding Mishra's ouster to pave way for an impartial investigation into the murder case.

The police said that the prime accused also admitted that he had burnt and buried the body in an under-construction stadium of the school at Mahaling in Kalahandi district.

The remains of the body were exhumed on October 19 from the stadium along with an anklet, a chain, and a half-burnt bag.

Meanwhile, the opposition parties continued to stage demonstrations in different parts of the state demanding Mishra's removal.

The state unit of the BJP came down heavily on the minister, who at a meeting two days ago in Kalahandi district, had allegedly cited the “clean chit” given to him by a senior police officer.

“Which agency has given him (minister) a clean chit? If the minister is referring to the claims of the northern range DIG Deepak Kumar, does the officer have any authority to give clean chit to the minister?” state BJP general secretary Lekhashree Samantasinghar asked.

Kalahandi district where the incident took place does not come under the jurisdiction of the DIG northern range, the BJP leader said.

“Just because I represent this Assembly constituency, I cannot be held responsible for a murder that I am not a part of,” Mishra had said.

To further intensify the agitation, the BJP's youth wing launched a signature campaign in Bhubaneswar to seek justice for the family members of the victim.

“We will extend the campaign to various parts of the state,” Irasis Acharya, Odisha BJP Yuva Morcha president said.

During the day, members of a Women's Rights Organisation met Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal and sought his intervention for a CBI probe into the murder case.

Social activists Namrata Chadha and many others demanded an impartial probe into the case and urged the state government to clear the air about the minister's alleged involvement.

Congress spokesperson Padmakar Guru said as the MoS, Home Mishra should form a judicial probe panel to prove himself innocent.

(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)