Bhubaneswar, July 17: The Congress today demanded a CBI probes into the death of seven children in a wall collapse at an anganwadi centre in Nayagarh district on July 9, the Pipili gangrape and the death of a woman who was stripped and paraded naked in Jagatsinghpur district.

Former law minister Narasingha Mishra today told the journalists that police had deliberately sought to mislead investigation into the wall collapse incident as chief minister Naveen Patnaik was currently heading the women and child development department. Mishra said the local administration had informed the government that the anganwadi building was unsafe. “Had the administration paid heed to it, the tragic incident would have been avoided,” he said.

The former law minister said the state government had last year informed Orissa High Court following a PIL that the state had 34,492 anganwadi centres in 2011, but only 4,293 were in a good condition. It said that while a 1,639 were beyond repair, 4,819 needed major repair and 5,023 minor repairs.

The Centre had allocated Rs 400 crore and the state government Rs 17 crore for repairs and construction of new buildings. Alleging that the repairs were not carried out at most places, Mishra described it as an act of culpable omission and said the chief minister should squarely be held responsible for the tragedy.

Mishra said atrocities against women and underprivileged sections were on the rise in the state. “It is a vice-president of Biju Janata Dal, too, who was facing charges allegations of ill-treating harijans,” he said.