TOTAL BLOCKADE AT KASHIPUR, CHANDRAPUR, RAYAGADA PROTESTING LAXMI MAJHI’S DEATH
Dr.Badal Tah,Odishabart
Rayagada, January 6: There was a spontaneous support of people from all walks of lfe at Kashipur to the protest due to unnatural death of the tribal girl named Laxmi Majhi hailing from Nakatiguda village of Kashipur. The irate villagers from several villages of Kashipur blocked the roads from 6 AM to 6 PM at Tikiri, Sorisapadara, Jamuguda, Jhodiapada, Nakatiguda, Sana Matikona, Totaguda, Gorakhpur, Sunger, Kashipur IFAD chowk, Jagannath Temple Chowk, etc.
The villagers under the aegis of Zilla Adibasi Mahasangha and Adibasi Samaj raised several slogans to arrest the culprits immediately as Laxmi has been murdered since last fifteen days and the police has not been able to nab anyone. Laxmi’s father Beldhar Majhi has lodged an FIR and termed his daughter’s death as a cold blooded murder. He squarely blamed the involvement of Director of NGO ALISHA, where Laxmi was working. Laxmi’s body was partly charred. As per the allegation of Beldhar, her daughter was sexually abused, murdered and thrown behind a dilapidated building inside the campus of the Community Health Centre in Chandrapur on December 21 night. He lamented over the reason of not sharing the post mortem report of his daughter till date, for which he smelled foul play.
Similarly bandh was observed from dawn to dusk in several places of Chandrapur block namely Chandrapur block headquarters main chowk, Hanumanthapur and Dangasorada.No vehicles were seen plying in the area and all the school, colleges and govt offices remained closed. The people were seen with posters and banners depicting justice for Laxmi.
Rayagada town got paralysed from all the sides at Siriguda Chowk, Sai Internationa Hotel Chowk, FCI chowk, Majhighariani Temple Chowk, Koraput Chowk, Kapilas Hotel-Over bridge chowk. People under the tribal leaders namely Appalaswamy Kadraka, Basanta Ullaka, Jagannath Mandingi and Manjula Miniyaka of Zilla Adibasi Mahasangha took out a massive motor cycle rally in the town and demanded a CBI inquiry as they did not have confidence on Crime branch inquiry, which was done in the murder of Bagirathi Manding during year 2013. Apart of educational institutions, banks, offices all the shops and other business establishments were closed.
Chandrapur, a hub of development deficit, is the remotest block of Rayagada district bordering Gajapati and Kandhamal. Though the incident is very sensitive, neither the Collector or any other senior officer has visited the spot. The ALISHA NGO, which is receiving huge grants from Health & Family Welfare Deptt of Govt of Odisha after appraisal and recommendation by the Collector and Chief District Medical & Public Health Officer(CDM&PHO), is hardly monitored by these officers, sources mentioned.
Meanwhile Crime Branch with help of the local police went to the spot twice, interacted with hospital staff, Maa Gruha staff and its Director. SP Vivekananda Sharma has also visited the spot and is having strict vigil on the incident. He is confident to reach a conclusion very soon.
