Puri: The Jagannath Sena on Tuesday demanded stringent action against two BJD MLAs for violating COVID-19 guidelines.
Convener of Jagannath Sena, Priyadarshan Patnaik briefed the media after submitting a copy of the station diary and the relevant documents pertaining to the violation of the COVID-19 norms by the Nimapara MLA Samir Ranjan Dash and Satyabadi MLA Umakanta Samantaray to the additional SP Arun Kumar Jena.
He said that the statement of the Nimapara MLA that he had attended the funeral of the BJD leader Pradeep Maharathy at Swargadwar in Puri on Sunday after completing the 21-day quarantine period, is a blatant lie.
“The fact remains that these two MLAs had undergone the 2nd phase COVID test at the State Assembly on September 27 where they were tested positive for the virus. According to COVID-19 guidelines, both the leaders should have isolated themselves. Instead, they violated the guidelines and participated in the funeral. The Puri collector had recently told the media that the administration will take stern action if any COVID-19 patient moves out of the isolation within 17 days. Sadly, the collector, while taking the statement of Dash to his confidence, also attended the funeral with him and has become a super spreader,” Patnaik said.
He said if the district administration fails to take any action against these two MLAs, the Jagannath Sena will move the court.
