Bhubaneswar: National spokesperson of BJP and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Friday sought a status report on the alleged murder of 17 party workers in Odisha from Director General Police (DGP).
In a letter to the DGP, Sarangi said Odisha has been witnessing increasing crime rate and disproportionately low conviction rate. In addition, the instances of political violence, especially against BJP workers, have seen upward trend in the last few years, she added.
The MP also furnished a list of 15 BJP workers who were allegedly murdered in the recent past besides the gruesome killing of Kulamani Baral and Divyasing Baral a few days back.
“In all these murders, either the culprits have not been nabbed or have got bail
because of poor investigation,” she said.
Citing the 2019 report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), she said
Odisha is placed at second position among the states to have witnessed the highest number of women molestation cases while the state fared worst with an abysmal conviction rate of 5.7% in 2018.
“The BJP workers can not be the victims of political vendetta. It is the duty of the police to ensure law and order and prevent continued perpetration of such heinous crimes. If the state government fails to do so, then it will not to be far when we will see West Bengal-like scenario in Odisha,” the MP said in the letter.
