A five-member team formed by the BJP to inquire into the gang-rape and murder of a minor girl in Hanskhali area of West Bengal will visit the incident spot on Friday morning.
The panel, constituted by BJP chief J.P. Nadda, consists of “BJP's vice president and MP Rekha Verma, Uttar Pradesh government minister Baby Rani Maurya, Tamil Nadu MLA Vanathi Srinivasan, who is also BJP women wing head, Kushbu Sunder and West Bengal MLA Sreerupa Mitra Choudhury,” The Times of India reported.
ABP Live reported that Rekha Verma demanded imposition of President's Rule in West Bengal before she left for Hanskhali on Friday. She argued the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh had quickly arrested the suspects in rape cases in Unnao and Hathras.
News 18 reported the TMC attacked the BJP over the formation of the panel to inquire into the Hanskhali incident. The party alleged it was an attempt to influence the CBI probe into the incident.
On Friday, the CBI searched the residence of the prime accused in the Hanskhali gang-rape incident. The house is where the alleged crime was committed on April 4 and the investigating agency collected samples from there before locking the house, an official said.
The CBI sleuths were accompanied by personnel of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory and the entire search operation and evidence collection were videographed, he said.
The search continued till late on Thursday night due to a power cut in the area. During the CBI search, local residents approached its sleuths and claimed that the men and boys of the area are being threatened by the family and accomplices of the accused. They also requested protection.
The district police has already arrested the prime accused, Sohail Goyali, and his friend Prabhakar Poddar.
The CBI team, which has two woman officers, is expected to conduct another round of search operations at the residence of the accused and its surrounding area on Friday in connection with the investigation in the crime.
