Bhubaneswar, July 20: A 15-year-old girl, who was undergoing treatment at AIIMS Bhubaneswar after three miscreants set her ablaze in Odisha’s Puri district, was airlifted to Delhi on Sunday, officials said.
Soon after the girl was shifted to Delhi, Odisha DGP YB Khurania went to Balanga area in Puri district and visited the place of the crime on the bank of the Bhargavi river.
“The investigation has reached a sensitive stage and we will be able to provide details of the incident very soon,” Khurania told reporters at Balanga.
His visit to the crime spot came after the opposition BJD gheraoed the Balanga Police Station demanding arrest of culprits within 48 hours, and threatening to block the national highway passing through Bhubaneswar.
The police remain clueless about the accused persons even 36 hours after the incident, alleged woman BJD leader and former minister Tukuni Sahoo.
Earlier in the day, a green corridor was created to take the patient from AIIMS Bhubaneswar to Biju Patnaik International Airport, 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, with 70 per cent burns, was on oxygen support in the ICU at the Department of Burn Centre in AIIMS Bhubaneswar.
The patient was taken to Delhi after AIIMS Bhubaneswar Executive Director Ashutosh Biswas told reporters that the patient’s condition was stable, and her blood pressure, which was low yesterday, improved and it is safe to transfer her.
Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi on Saturday 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.
As the victim was able to speak on Saturday, the police have recorded her statement in the presence of a magistrate at the ICU, an official said, adding that her statement is vital for the investigation.
After visiting the spot accompanied by Central Range IG S Praveen Kumar and Puri SP Pinak Mishra, the DGP 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.
“Apart from police, two scientific teams, one from the State Forensic Science Laboratory and another from the AIIMS Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, have visited the spot and collected several evidences relating to the crime. The investigation is going on and police will soon get details,” the DGP said.
Sources said that the police during the last 36 hours have interrogated at least 10 people, including some women and the victim’s family members.
“The 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 police investigation revealed that three motorcycle-borne youths intercepted the teenager, forcibly took her to the banks of Bhargavi River near Bayabar village in Balanga police station area, poured an inflammable substance on her, and set her on fire on Saturday. The miscreants fled the spot after the incident, police said.
Local people doused the fire and took her to Pipili government hospital, from where she was taken to AIIMS Bhubaneswar and on Sunday, to AIIMS, Delhi.
The girl has suffered 70 per cent burn injury. Her mother on Saturday has 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. (PTI)
