Rourkela woman’s death: Orissa high court seeks response from home department and DGP

Cuttack: The Orissa high court has sought a response from the state home department and the director general of police (DGP) over a petition demanding a CID-crime branch or independent agency probe into the death of a 24-year-old woman in Rourkela in 2023.The order was passed by Justice Chittaranjan Dash on Sept 10, while hearing a writ petition filed by the victim’s brother, Sandeep Minj, who alleged that Susmita Minj was murdered and the local police did not take proper action ‘despite clear suspicions of foul play’.According to the petition, Susmita, who was a resident of Rourkela, went missing on Sept 16, 2023 and a complaint was lodged at Udit Nagar police station the next day by her family. She was subsequently traced to a local hotel and brought back home, but two days later, her body was recovered from a pond, located near the same hotel.Police registered a case of unnatural death but reportedly did not act on the petitioner’s request to lodge an FIR for suspected murder. A post-mortem report cited drowning as the cause of death and found no signs of physical or sexual assault. Not convinced with the report, the family later moved the sub-divisional judicial magistrate court in Rourkela, which, in Feb 2024, advised pursuing other legal remedies, including filing a complaint under Section 190 of the CrPC.Taking note of the ‘seriousness of the allegations’, Justice Dash directed the home secretary and the DGP to file counter affidavits on the matter. The case will be heard next on Oct 22.The petitioner has urged the court to transfer the investigation to the CID-crime branch, or any other impartial agency, citing lack of confidence in the local police’s probe.