Bhubaneswar: The Malkangiri issue was raised during the Zero Hour in the ongoing winter session of the Assembly, where both BJD and Congress members blamed the State’s BJP government for failing to prevent the clash, the tension over which had been prevalent for some days. The BJD member, Pratap Keshari Deb, alleged that Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi misled the House two days ago by claiming that the law and order situation was fine across the State.

“If law and order is all right, what is happening in Malkangiri? The tribals are angry over the killing of a woman of their community. This incident may encourage Maoists, who have a presence in Malkangiri. The State government’s inaction may indirectly help left-wing extremism,” Deb alleged.

The Congress MLA, Mangu Khilla, said, “the woman went missing on December 1, and the family lodged a missing person report on December 3. Her body was found on December 4 on a riverbank.

What were the police doing all along? The police know that there was a land dispute. Still, the police did not act,” claimed Khilla, who is the local MLA. Alleging that even elderly women are not safe in Malkangiri, he cited some other cases of rapes of young women in the district.

The BJP MLA, Ashok Mohanty, told reporters that thegovernment is alert and adequate deployment has been made in the affected area.