Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], July 1 (ANI): Bhubaneswar Commissionerate police arrested three persons on Monday for allegedly assaulting Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo during office hours.
An FIR has been registered at Bhubaneswar’s Kharvelnagar Police Station.
The arrested have been identified as Jeevan Rout, Rashmi Mahapatra and Debashis Pradhan.
“They shall be forwarded to the Honourable court under strict sections of law as per the FIR. Further investigation is in process. Involvement of other persons is being ascertained,” Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena said.
The incident has sparked a political row in the state, with the primary opposition parties in Odisha strongly condemning the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo.
Biju Janata Dal (BJD) chief and former Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday expressed his deep shock at the “brutal kicking and assault” of Additional Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) and called upon Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi to take immediate and exemplary action against the guilty, including “political leaders who orchestrated and conspired this shameful attack”.
Patnaik said on X that the official was “dragged from his office and brutally kicked” and attached a video.
“I am utterly shocked seeing this video. Today, Shri Ratnakar Sahoo, OAS Additional Commissioner, BMC, a senior officer of the rank of Additional Secretary, was dragged from his office and brutally kicked and assaulted in front of a BJP Corporator, allegedly linked to a defeated BJP MLA Candidate,” Patnaik said.
The BJD leader said what is more appalling is that this happened in broad daylight, in the heart of the capital city, to a senior officer while he was in his office, hearing grievances of people.
Hitting out at the BJP government in the state, he said, “if a senior officer is not safe in his own office, then what law and order will ordinary citizens expect from the Government”.
“I ask @MohanMOdisha Ji to take immediate and exemplary action against not only those who purported but more importantly the political leaders who orchestrated and conspired this shameful attack. The people named by the officer in his FIR have behaved like criminals,” he said.
“I only hope that Shri Majhi directs immediate action to be taken to restore faith in his government and not allow this heinous act to go unpunished like the assault on an officer by the ex-Governor’s son. The people of Odisha will not forgive this,” he added.
The Congress party also strongly condemned the attack on Ratnakar Sahu, the Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, describing it as an example of lawlessness under the BJP’s rule.
Congress stated that BJP leader Aparupa Raut and his supporters allegedly beat up Sahu and even tried to kidnap him.
In a post on X, the Congress party shared a video and wrote, “In Bhubaneswar, Odisha, BJP leader Aparupa Raut, along with his goons, is beating up the Additional Commissioner of the Municipal Corporation.
“An attempt was also made to kidnap Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahu. Somehow, the Commissioner managed to save his life. This is the jungle raj of the BJP, where criminals are openly indulging in thuggery,” the post reads. (ANI)
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