The 10 accused, who allegedly raped a college student at Gopalpur on June 15, also extorted ₹1,000 from the victim and her male companion after the sexual assault, investigators said on Thursday.

All-India Congress Committee (AICC) on Thursday constituted a five-member fact-finding team to probe the Gopalpur gang rape case. Senior party leader from Bengal Deepa Dasmunshi has been made the convener of the fact-finding team.

The team will visit Odisha and submit a comprehensive report to AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge. Other members of the committee are MPs Ranjeet Ranjan, Praniti Shinde, S. Jothimani and the party’s prominent woman leader Shobha Oza.

In a press release, the AICC said: “In light of the horrific rape incident reported from Gopalpur, increasing cases of atrocities against women and the disturbing number of women reported missing, the Congress president has deputed a factfinding team to visit Odisha and submit a comprehensive report on the situation.”

Addressing a press conference in Bhubaneswar, Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Bhakta Charan Das announced that Congress leader Rahul Gandhi would visit Odisha in the second week of July. “AICC president AICC president Mallikarjun Kharge will also visit the state along with Rahul Gandhi.”

During the visit, they will highlight the issue of atrocities against women in Odisha.

Meanwhile, the Biju Janata Dal on Friday alleged that the law and order in the state has collapsed. “Crime against women has gone up. The state ranks eighth in the country in terms of crime. It will be good if Prime Minister visits the state to improve the law and order situation,” said former minister Pramila Mallick. It may be mentioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting the state on Friday.

Bhubaneswar mayor Sulochana Das said: “The state government has completely failed in providing security to women and children. The state government should rise from its slumber and take effective steps to contain crime against women.” The BJD alleged that during the last one year as many as 3,054 rape cases have been reported.

In the Gopalpur gang rape case, police have arrested all the 10 persons including four juveniles. “We are going to do the ossification test of the four juveniles to determine their age. We have already collected the required DNA samples for the test,” said a doctor of the MKCG Hospital Berhampur. The gang rape of a 20-year-old college girl on the Gopalpur beach in Ganjam district, about 14 km from Berhampur town, has sent a shock wave across the country. A crime branch probe has been ordered into this incident.

The prime accused, a BTech dropout who was out on bail in an attempt to murder case, had come to Odisha from Bengaluru where he worked in a factory, investigators have said. The gang rape case, which sparked nationwide outrage, is currently being investigated by the CID Crime Branch.

Post-assault, the accused persons extorted ₹1,000 from the survivor and her male friend through cash and UPI, it said.

The police requested the Juvenile Justice Board treat the four minor boys involved in the crime be treated as adults for trial.

Additional reporting by PTI