Cuttack: Orissa High Court will take up a PIL, seeking probe by a central agency into the gang-rape of a school girl in Koraput on October 10.

A high court lawyer filed the PIL, seeking a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or National Investigating Agency (NIA) probe on Monday.

"The case was mentioned before the court of Chief Justice Vineet Saran on Tuesday, and he issued a directive to list the matter for argument on October 23," advocate-petitioner Gautam Siddique said on Wednesday.

The PIL was filed at a time when chief minister Naveen Patnaik had expressed "deep shock" and denounced the incident as "most inhuman". Police have taken it up as a red flag case.

A circular issued by police in 2014 categorised cases of heinous crimes against women to be dealt with on a priority basis as a red flag case.

The Odisha State Commission for Women had also registered a suo motu case and a four-member team has already started its own investigation. Four uniformed personnel allegedly gang-raped the minor near Sorisapadar jungle. The survivor, a Class-IX student a government welfare school at Musaguda village in Patangi police limits, had gone to Kunduli to register her biometrics for Aadhaar.

She was walking back home alone when four unidentified persons in uniform dragged her to the nearby jungle, raped and abandoned her. She is still undergoing treatment.

According to the petition, the police had said the crime spot was in a dense forest, where there is no police presence. Border Security Force officials had denied the involvement of its men, claiming its nearest company was located about 35km from the spot and that it did not operate in the area.

"Both the police and the central force denied involvement of their personnel before the investigation began. In view of this, investigation by the CBI or the NIA is highly warranted," the PIL said.

Another PIL on the gang-rape was filed by Berhampur-based Bharatiya Bikash Parishad on Tuesday. Parishad joint secretary Surya Narayan Behera filed the PIL, seeking the court's intervention and direction to the police to expedite investigation process.