Nuapada: A case has been registered against senior BJD leader Pranab Prakash Das and MLA Adhiraj Panigrahi by the police in Odisha’s Nuapada district, following allegations of assault of a youth.
As per sources, Jitu Adabanga of the Komna area lodged a complaint accusing the two Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders of assaulting and abusing him at another leader Manoj Mishra’s farmhouse.
It was alleged in the complaint lodged at Komna Police Station, he was beaten up and verbally abused for his association with the BJP. Jitu claimed that he was saved after police intervened in time.
Based on his complaint, a case has been filed under BNS Sections 126(2), 296, 115(2), 351(2), and 3(5). Police have initiated an investigation into the matter.
Pranab Das, widely known as Bobby Das, and Adhiraj Panigrahi were not immediately available for comment.
After filing a written complaint on Friday, Jitu had said that Bobby Das and Adhiraj Panigrahi had called him on Thursday through another mobile number and asked him to go to BJD district general secretary Manoj Mishra’s farmhouse.
As per the complaint, Das reportedly confronted and abused him for leaving the BJD and joining the BJP. It was also alleged that Das grabbed him by the collar, assaulted him, and threatened to eliminate him and his family. “You don’t know who I am. I will kill you and your family,” Jitu quoted Das as having said.
Jitu claimed that a police team from Komana reached the spot after receiving information and rescued him. “Had the police not arrived on time, I might have been killed,” he stated in the complaint.
The incident has triggered a buzz in Nuapada, with locals expressing concern over rising political tension in the run-up to the by-election.
It may be noted that BJD leader Prithiranjan Gharai, who is actively campaigning for the bypoll, has reportedly been staying in a rented house on Khariar Road. Acting on a tip-off that cash meant for alleged distribution among voters was stored there, a police team — accompanied by two magistrates — conducted a search at the house on Friday, deploying a platoon of police personnel.