This Article is From May 13, 2011

Acid attack on teenage girl, police suspect rivalry

Cuttack: In yet another shocking incident of acid attack, a 19-year-old girl was grievously injured on the outskirts of the city here on Thursday.

The girl is now undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital here with over 20 per cent injuries on her face, chest and abdomen, police said.

Pinku Behera of Srikorua village under Cuttack Sadar police station was cycling her way to a computer training institute at the nearby Telengapentha to attend classes when two unidentified youths following her in a motorcycle threw acid on her near Gopalpur square, they said.

Before she could react, the miscreants fled from the spot immediately, police said, quoting the victim that the attackers were riding a numberless motorcycle.

Preliminary investigations showed the incident could be the outcome of a previous rivalry Pinku had developed with one of her lady colleagues when she was working in an NGO in Balasore about two years ago.

Family members believe that Pinku's former colleague, a native of Mancheswar in Bhubaneswar, could be the mastermind behind the incident as she was nurturing a grudge against Pinku for she was thrown out from the NGO after the fracas between the two.

"The Bhubaneswar-based girl had dropped in at our house about two months ago and in a heated exchange of words had warned Pinku of dire consequences," said a relative of the victim, adding the matter was brought to the notice of police.

Meanwhile, police have begun investigations into the incident but they are clueless about the identity of the miscreants who threw acid on Pinku.
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