BJP Chief JP Nadda Forms 4-Member Panel To Probe Sambalpur Violence

Bhubaneswar: The BJP has formed a four-member inquiry committee to probe the violence during Hanuman Jayanti procession in Odisha’s Sambalpur district.

“BJP President JP Nadda has expressed grief over the incident and constituted a four-member inquiry committee to probe the violence,” BJP National General Secretary Arun Singh said in the official order released on Friday.

The committee comprises Rajya Sabha members Brij Lal, Samir Oraon, Aditya Sahu and Lok Sabha MP Jyotirmay Singh Mahato. The members will visit Sambalpur and prepare a report based on facts that will be submitted to the BJP President for necessary action, it added.

On April 22, the Odisha unit of BJP had written to Union Home Minister Amit Shah, requesting him to take steps for an inquiry by NIA into the violence in Sambalpur during Hanuman Jayanti celebrations.  “We strongly condemn the heinous act of communal violence and demand an impartial investigation by the NIA to unravel the conspiracy behind the incident, and strict action against the perpetrators,” letter signed by BJP’s state unit president Manmohan Samal and several party MPs and MLAs said.

BJP leaders also alleged that the law and order situation in Sambalpur had “deteriorated” following clashes “due to the orchestrated violent attack” on a motorcycle rally two days before the Hanuman Jayanti on April 14, which left several persons, including some policemen, grievously injured.

The violence and arson “exposed the poor intelligence network of the Odisha Police and the lack of foresight on its part to ascertain the consequences of “inadequate security arrangement during the festival”, the letter further said.

It pointed out that some attackers had raised certain objectionable and anti-national slogans to incite communal violence. “Such sloganeering by the mob is not acceptable and amounts to crime that needs to be dealt with strict laws,” the BJP leaders said.

The saffron party also claimed that a tribal youth was killed and several others were injured in another attack by a mob in Sambalpur on April 14.

Meanwhile, the Sambalpur administration has relaxed the curfew and internet restrictions imposed in the western Odisha town in the aftermath of the violence following overall improvement in the situation.