Odisha agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy resigned on “moral grounds” on Sunday, a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi had urged the state government to re-investigate a gang rape-and-murder case in which the BJD leader’s name had cropped up. She died on June 21, 2012 while undergoing treatment at the SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. He had first quit in 2012 when the Opposition had accused him of providing shelter to the accused. Maharathy then said: “My sympathies are with the victim, but I respect the court’s verdict. I had said the truth would prevail.”Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik is said to have secured the resignation following criticism of Maharathy’’s statement by Modi at a public rally in Baripada on Saturday.

Source: The Telegraph January 06, 2019 20:03 UTC