Bhubaneswar, Nov 28 (IANS): The Odisha government on Saturday constituted a five-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the alleged murder of a five-year-old girl in Nayagarh district.

The SIT will be headed by senior IPS officer Arun Bothra to investigate the kidnapping and murder of the minor girl, whose body was found days after she went missing while playing near her house in July this year.

The government has requested the Orissa High Court to monitor the investigation.

Special Secretary (Home) Santosh Bala on Saturday wrote a letter to the Registrar General of Orissa High Court informing that the state government has selected a panel of senior officers for the SIT.

The Home department also requested the Chief Justice to accord permission to a sitting High Court Judge to monitor the SIT probe.

On Friday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik said the state government was ready for a SIT probe into the matter if needed.

The incident sparked massive public outrage after her parents attempted self-immolation outside the Odisha Assembly on Tuesday.

They accused Minister Arun Kumar Sahoo of shielding the prime accused in the case.

The House witnessed uproarious scenes as the Opposition demanded the resignation of the Minister.