Naveen Condemns Murder Of BJP Leader, Urges EC Intervention

Bhubaneswar: Expressing grief over the murder of BJP leader and president of Khurda zone Manguli Jena by an unidentified miscreant on Sunday night, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday urged the Election Commission of India (ECI) to take up the matter seriously.

“I urge the ECI to immediately direct the police to probe into the incident and initiate stringent action against those involved to ensure that no such recurrence of such heinous crime in future,” he told the media at Naveen Niwas here on Monday.

Naveen also condemned the incident on his official Twitter handle.

“There is no place for violence in a democracy. I strongly condemn the incident in Khurda and express my deep condolence to the bereaved family,” the Chief Minister tweeted.

Expressing shock over the incident, senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said: “We are all shattered to hear about the murder of one of our ablest party leaders of Khurda.”