A 15-year-old girl, who sustained severe burn injuries after three miscreants set her on fire in Odisha’s Puri district, was airlifted to Delhi on Sunday. She was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
After the girl was airlifted to Delhi for better treatment, Odisha DGP YB Khurania immediately visited Balanga area in Puri district and rushed to the crime spot on the bank of the Bhargavi river.
Speaking to reporters Khurania said that the investigation has reached a sensitive stage and the police will be able to provide details of the incident very soon.
Khurania’s visit to the crime spot in Puri came after the opposition BJD gheraoed the Balanga Police Station, demanding arrest of culprits within 48 hours. The protestors also threatened to block the national highway passing through Bhubaneswar.
Meanwhile, even as 36 hours have passed since the incident took place, police have remain clueless about the accused persons, alleged woman BJD leader and former minister Tukuni Sahoo.
Earlier in the day, a green corridor was created in Bhubaneswar to shift the patient from AIIMS to Biju Patnaik International Airport (BPIA) and one platoon of police force was deployed.
“It took around 12 minutes to reach the airport from AIIMS Bhubaneswar. She was taken in an advanced life support ambulance with a dedicated medical team,” said Traffic DCP Tapan Kumar Mohanty.
A green corridor in the context of healthcare refers to a special, cleared-out route for ambulances transporting organs for transplantation or severely ill patients to reach their destination in the shortest possible time.
The girl, who has sustained 70 per cent burn injuries, was on oxygen support in the ICU at the Department of Burn Centre in AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
The patient was shifted to Delhi after AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Ashutosh Biswas informed that the patient’s condition was stable, and her blood pressure, which was low yesterday, improved and it is safe to transfer her.
Earlier on Saturday, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi said that the state government was planning to airlift the minor to Delhi for better treatment.
Majhi, however, said AIIMS Bhubaneswar authorities will take a decision considering her health condition.
Police have also recorded the victim’s, who was able to speak on Saturday, statement in the presence of a magistrate at the ICU, an official said, adding that her statement is vital for the investigation.
The DGP, after visiting the crime spot accompanied by Central Range IG S Praveen Kumar and Puri SP Pinak Mishra, went to the Bhargavi river bank and inspected the place where the trio had poured inflammable substance on the girl and set her on fire.
“The police team was accompanied by two scientific teams, one from the State Forensic Science Laboratory and another from the AIIMS Forensic Medicine and Toxicology to the spot. They collected several evidences relating to the crime. The investigation is going on and police will get details soon,” the DGP said.
According to sources, police have interrogated at least 10 people, including some women and the victim’s family members, during the last 36 hours.
“Police have got some clue, but it is too early to reach any conclusion now,” an official said, adding that the incident of setting ablaze the girl took place barely 400 meters away from her residence.
Preliminary investigation by the police revealed that three motorcycle-borne youths stopped the teenager and forcibly took her to the banks of Bhargavi River near Bayabar village in Balanga police station area. They then poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire on Saturday. The miscreants fled the spot after the committing the crime, police said.
Locals doused the fire and rushed her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was shifted to AIIMS Bhubaneswar and on Sunday, taken to AIIMS, Delhi.
On Saturday, her mother lodged an FIR with Balanga police station, officials said, adding the victim was a class 8 dropout and her father works at a motor garage.
