Puri: In a disturbing incident, a man was critically injured after being brutally attacked in broad daylight by armed miscreants, who also attempted to run him over with a speeding motorcycle in Kanas area of Odisha’s Puri district.
As per information, the gruesome incident took place on a busy road barely half a kilometre from the local police station on Saturday. Video of the incident have gone viral, triggering widespread outrage.
Sources said a group of miscreants chased the victim, identified as Mrutyunjaya Bharimal (around 35) of Dokanda village, in a crowded marketplace and launched a violent assault using a sharp weapon. The attackers repeatedly struck him and dragged him over a considerable distance, creating panic in the area.
Local residents, with the help of police, later rescued the man in a critically injured state and rushed him to a nearby hospital. He was later shifted to AIIMS-Bhubaneswar. His condition remains critical.
According to Puri Superintendent of Police Prateek Singh, past enmity could be the possible motive behind the attack. The injured man reportedly has multiple criminal cases registered against him, while the attackers also are said to have criminal record, he said.
In a complaint lodged at Kanas police station, the victim’s brother, Soumyaranjan, has named several persons in the complaint, alleging their involvement in the murderous attack. It was also claimed that the victim had received death threats a few days before the incident.
Reacting sharply to the ghastly incident, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Odisha Assembly Naveen Patnaik launched a sharp attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state.
“The incident that occurred in Kanasa of Puri district clearly shows that lawlessness in Odisha has crossed all limits—what direction is the BJP government taking Odisha in?” the BJD president said in a post on X
“The sight of miscreants banding together in broad daylight during the afternoon to brutally and mercilessly carry out a fatal attack on a young man has left the entire populace of Odisha shaken and terrified,” he added.
Naveen further said that after attacking him brutally on the public road, the attempt to drag him openly into a vehicle and beat him to death is an extremely sensitive and heart-wrenching incident.
“Is there rule of law in Odisha, then? Due to the BJP government’s inertia and incompetence, criminals are roaming about completely fearless. Ordinary citizens have been gripped by fear and terror. The BJP government has utterly failed to ensure a safe environment for the people. People’s trust in Odisha’s governance system is on the verge of shattering. How much more disastrous does lawlessness have to become before the government wakes up from its slumber,?” the former chief minister sought to know.
