Land Grabbing Case: CB Picks Up Senior OTV Official; Tarang Studio Workers On Dharna

Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha police on Sunday picked up Chief Finance Officer (CFO) of Odisha Television Ltd (OTV) Manoranjan Sarangi in connection with the alleged land grabbing at Sarua village in Odisha’s Khurda district.

Informing the media, Sarangi’s daughter Gayatri said a team of five Crime Branch officers arrived at their residence in Chakeisiani here early morning without serving any notice to the company and forcibly took him away.

“The Crime Branch officers did not allow me to give medicines to my father who is a diabetic patient. I do not know the whereabouts of my father,” she added.

Informing the media later, a senior Crime Branch officer said  the OTV official will be interrogated in the land grabbing case.

The state investigating wing had earlier grilled Sarangi on this matter at Baghamari police station and later at his chamber at the OTV corporate office here.

Meanwhile, scores of contractual workers of Tarang Studio, which belongs to the OTV group, staged a dharna in front of the building at Sarua village against pay cuts and layoffs.

They alleged that the management was threatening to terminate them from service and stop ongoing projects on the pretext of the COVID-19 pandemic.

On Saturday, the Baghamari Police arrested site engineer of the Odisha Infratech Pvt Ltd Dinabandhu Samant and supervisor of  Tarang Studio Biswajit Routray for allegedly threatening the contractual workers.

Police have registered a case (87/20) under Sections 341, 294, 323, 34 of the IPC against them following a complaint by the workers.