Assam CM must apologise to the victim: CPI-M

Communist Party of India – Marxist's senior leader Brinda Karat has blasted Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gagoi after the CM's office revealed the identity of the young girl who was molested on the streets of Guwahati last week.

Karat has asked the chief minister to tender a public apology.

"The Assam chief minister has done immense harm to the victim by naming her in his official brief. His office asked the media to ignore the message sent earlier but by then the damage had been done. He must tender a public apology for the grave offence committed against the victim," Karat told rediff.com.

In response to a question on whether she would like the probe to be conducted by an independent agency, Karat said the state police was investigating the matter and there was no need for another agency to take up the probe.

State Director General of Police J N Chaturvedi said that the number people arrested in the case has gone up to 12 but the main culprit is still eluding arrest.

Asked about the role played by a local journalist in instigating the crime, Chaturvedi said that the scribe had denied any allegations and claimed that the incident was going on when he arrived at the scene.

"We have some important clues and we should be able to nab the other culprits soon," he said.