Bhubaneswar: Susama Sahu, wife of prime accused in Mamita Meher murder case Gobind Sahu has leveled serious allegations that her husband has been murdered.
“My husband has been murdered. “He was a mentally strong person. If he wanted to commit suicide, he would have done it much earlier, not after passing of more than a year. It was a pre-planned murder,” she alleged.
She held the jail administration responsible for the death of her husband. She has lodged a complaint with the Kegaon police station in this regard.
Gobind allegedly committed suicide in the Kantabanji sub-jail in Balangir district on Tuesday, a police officer said.
“I received a call from the jailer that Gobind Sahu made an attempt to end his life. When they took Gobind to the hospital, the doctor declared him brought dead,” said DIG (Prisons), Subhakanta Mishra.
The DIG of Sambalpur has been asked to conduct an inquiry and submit a report within 24 hours, Mishra said.
“The prime accused in the Mamita Meher murder case was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday. When the escort team was going to the sub-jail, we got the information that Gobind had committed suicide,” Deepak Kumar, DIG, Sambalpur, told reporters.
A thorough investigation will be conducted into the matter as per the guidelines issued by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the Supreme Court, Kumar added.
DGP Sunil Bansal has ordered a Crime Branch probe into the death of Gobind.
Meanwhile, taking suo-motu cognizance of the case, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has directed the Special DG of prisons and Bolangir SP to submit a report within 15 days.
Opposition parties BJP and Congress have raised questions over the alleged suicide of Gobind in jail.
While the BJP demanded a CBI probe into the matter, the Congress sought an impartial or judiciary inquiry to find out under what circumstances Gobind took his life.
Mamita Meher, a resident of Turekela block in Balangir district, was serving as a teacher at an English medium school at Mahaling in Kalahandi district. She had gone missing on October 8, 2021. On October 19, 2021, the police recovered her decomposed body from an under-construction stadium at Mahaling. She was allegedly strangled to death by Gobind, the promoter of the school.
(With IANS inputs)
