Bhubaneswar: Commissionerate Police on Saturday arrested four Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) activists for vandalizing the official residence of senior IAS officer and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister V Karthikeyan Pandian.
“Police has arrested four activists of BJYM (the youth wing of BJP). Efforts are on to arrest others involved in the incident. Police would take strong action against them,” said Bhubaneswar-Cuttack Police Commissioner Y B Khurania, who rushed to the spot along with Bhubaneswar DCP Satyabrata Bhoi and Bhubaneswar Mayor Ananta Jena.
Stating that vandalizing the official quarters of a public servant is grossly deplorable, Khurania said police has taken the matter seriously and would take appropriate action against those involved in the incident.
The four BJYM arrested by the police have been identified as Jugajyoti Swain, Rashmi Ranjan Muduli, Bibhuti Bhusan Prusti and Biswaranjan Badejena.
Eyewitnesses said about 40 BJYM activists arrived at the official residence of Pandian in the morning and shouted slogans against him, alleging that he was working for a particular political party. They attacked the security guard and barged into the premises of his official residence on and damaged flower vases and some bikes. They also threw cow dung at the wall and the main gate of his residence.
“If the IAS officer does not refrain from indulging in politics, we will oppose him tooth and nail,” a Morcha activist said before leaving the area.
This is possibly the first time in recent history when workers of a political party attacked the residence of a bureaucrat in Odisha. It not only brought to the fore the growing bellicosity and bitterness between the opposition BJP and the ruling dispensation but also made obvious Naveen Patnaik baiters’ new strategy to target people working closely with the Chief Minister.
BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb said vandalism by BJP’s youth wing speaks volumes about the sick mentality of the saffron party’s top brass.
“Now you are attacking a government officer by accusing him of working for a political party. Will you attack the government officers if you come to power? Such Hitler rule will never be tolerated,” he said while pointing his finger towards the BJP.
Targeting an officer in this manner should be strongly dealt with. Police should arrest the hooligans at the earliest possible,” Deb asserted.
Referring to the allegations by some BJYM activists that Pandian is working for a particular party, Deb said the IAS officer has never taken any decision on his own. He just carries out the orders of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
BJD spokesperson Sulochana Das criticized the opposition’s non-Odia IAS officer tag on Pandian. “How can you make such absurd accusation? There are several Odia IAS and IPS officers working in other states and holding important posts. Does it mean they are working against the government of the state they are serving?” she asked.
Senior Congress leader and leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra also condemned the incident.
Taking a dig at the BJP, he said the saffron party has come to Odisha from Gujarat via Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. “The party that has come to power in these three states by threatening the voters is trying to replicate the same in Odisha. I request their leaders to refrain from such deplorable act which they did by vandalizing the official quarters of the IAS officer,” he said.
BJP state vice-president Sameer Mohanty defended the act of the BJYM cadres. “Those who are sullying the image of Odisha deserve such treatment,” he maintained.
