Bhubaneswar, Nov 11 (PTI) Amidst continuing protests demanding the immediate sacking and arrest of Odisha minister of state for home for his alleged links with the prime accused in the Kalahandi teacher kidnap and murder, the opposition parties and ruling BJD traded charges on Thursday even as the Congress scaled down its proposed state-wide agitation programme following a High Court directive.

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The Odisha Youth Congress, led by its president Smruti Ranjan Lenka held a protest at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi demanding resignation and arrest of the minister Dibya Shankar Mishra, a release by it said.

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The ruling Biju Janata Dal on the other hand called the Congress the "B team of BJP" in Odisha and accused it of joining hands with the saffron party for “cheap politicization” of the case.

BJD spokesperson Sasmit Patra dared Congress to approach the court if they had "even an iota of evidence" against Mishra.

He termed the state-wide strike called by the Congress on Friday to press for the sacking of the minister as “extremely unfortunate” as it "will affect the livelihood of the state's 4.5 crore citizens who are trying to build back their lives after being ravaged by the coronavirus pandemic."

“The way the Congress is behaving in Odisha it has become clear that it has turned into a B-team of the BJP,” Patra, who is also the BJD general secretary, said.

The BJP Yuva Morcha, which has taken its protest to the districts, took out a march to the Bargarh superintendent of police's office demanding a CBI probe into the case.

The protesters scuffled with the police as they tried to break barricades aand were detained.

“The incident is more abominable than the Nirbhaya case. Only two arrests have been made in such a big incident,” a local BJP leader said.

The 24-year-old woman teacher went missing on October 8 and her half-burnt decomposed body was exhumed from the playground of the private school in Kalahandi district where she taught on October 19 after the prime accused, who had escaped from a police barrack in neighbouring Bolangir district where he was kept under detention, was caught. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, who has faced several protests by the opposition parties the latest being in Cuttack on Wenesday, has maintained a silence on the issue.

(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)