Squarely blaming the state government, Routray said, exemplary punishment should be given to the culprit who committed this heinous crime. “The rape of a minor girl in Puri that too when the Rath Yatra celebration is on has shamed the entire state”, the senior leader said.

The state unit of the BJP also slammed the government on the issue and demanded an answer from the government as to why the incidents of rape had gone up in the state in the last few years.

The Puri Superintendent of Police(SP) Uma Shankar Dash said, the district administration would try to fast-track the case. “The man who committed the crime has been arrested and sent to jail after his bail plea was rejected by a local court. We will be filing the charge-sheet in the next three to four days. We will try to fast-track the case and request the government to appoint a special prosecutor for the same”, the SP said.

The Puri district police would be checking all the passenger buses arriving or halting in the temple town in every two hours.

The helper of a private passenger bus had allegedly raped the minor tribal girl inside the empty parked vehicle in Puri bus stand late on Monday night.