Jadupur youth accuses Odisha IPS officer of offering him bribe to take blame for Pari rape and murder
By Kishore Mohapatra/Narayan Behera
Nayagarh, Dec. 17: Serious allegations have been levelled against senior IPS officer and SIT chief Arun Bothra who investigating the abduction and murder of the 5-year-old girl Amrita Sneha Sahoo alias Pari. The allegations have levelled by a youth of Pari’s village.
The youth named Saroj Sethi said the IPS officer was trying to cajole him to take the blame for Pari’s rape and murder by offering a bribe of Rs 5 lakh and assuring to release him from jail by proving that he was a minor.
“The reason why the IPS officer Arun Bothra and the previous investigating officers doubt me is that Pari had come to our house a day before she was abducted. They (probe team) collected my blood and saliva samples and clothes from our house. As I am 18 years old, Arun Bothra offered me Rs 5 lakh to take the blame citing that they would reduce my age and make it 17 to prove that I am a juvenile which will limit the charges against me and also the jail term,” Saroj said.
He added that the IPS officer had shown him video clip of Nirbhaya trial in which an accused was proved a juvenile which helped him escape the gallows.
Saroj asserted that he was not guilty.
“I am not guilty. I am in no way involved in this, I do not know anything about Pari’s rape and murder,” reiterated Saroj.
“If anything happens to me or my family, Arun Bothra will be held responsible,” the youth said.
The SIT chief Arun Bothra was yet to respond to the allegations.
The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party and Congress said the police is trying to frame Saroj in the case to protect the prime accused Babuli Nayak, a close confidante of state agriculture minister Arun Kumar Sahoo. The Opposition has been demanding a CBI probe into the case and expulsion of the minister for his complicity in the case.
The SIT in its preliminary inquiry report submitted before the Odisha High Court on Wednesday reportedly stated that five-year-old girl Pari was sexually assaulted before being murdered. It further said the prime motive of the murder was rape and that it was confirmed from the semen stains found on the clothes of the deceased girl.
