Bhubaneswar: Chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday snubbed party's scheduled castes cell chief Bishnu Charan Das for putting the state government in an embarrassing situation in connection with the Kunduli gang-rape case.

He had earlier said that the jawans of the special operations group of the Odisha police were behind the heinous crime. Later, he was forced to backtrack on his statement as the Opposition seized the opportunity to attack the government on the issue. He was also accused of revealing the identity of the gang-rape survivor. The BJP had lodged an FIR against Das on Sunday evening for disclosing the identity of the gang-rape survivor and demanded criminal proceedings against him.

Today, Das came to meet the chief minister at Naveen Nivas and discuss about the Kunduli gang-rape case. After the meet, Das told The Telegraph: "I came to Naveen babu to offer my pranam to him. As I was a bit late in reaching, I did not get enough time to discuss the issue. He was also a bit annoyed for my reaching late."

Das said he would seek an appointment again. "I will also raise the issue of ordering a crime branch probe on the issue," said Das.

In another development, a team led by Utkal University psychology professor Namita Mohanty met the relatives of the Kunduli gang-rape survivor on Monday and tried to counsel them on how they should treat the 14-year-old girl. The Congress continued its indefinite strike before the Raj Bhavan demanding justice on the issue even on Monday. "She should be given a compensation of Rs 50 lakh and a judicial probe should be ordered on the issue," said MLA Krushan Chandra Sagaria.