Bhubaneswar: The Odisha BJP on Tuesday suspended five members, including corporator Aparupa Narayan Rout (Jeevan Rout) from the party, over the alleged assault on Additional Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Ratnakar Sahoo.
Others suspended include Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, Debashish Pradhan, Sachikant Swain and Sanjeev Mishra. “Based on allegations of their involvement in a violent incident at the BMC office on June 30, the following five individuals have been suspended from their primary membership of the BJP by state president Manmohan Samal,” the office order said.
Three among them – Jeevan Raut, Rashmi Mahapatra and Debashish Pradhan – have been arrested for the brutal assault on the senior OAS officer, which took place during the weekly public grievance hearing session on Monday morning.
Sahoo was kicked and punched and dragged out of the BMC office in full public view by some alleged supporters and workers of a local BJP leader, Jagannath Pradhan. They were also seen arguing with Mayor Sulochana Das and threatening other staff and officers.
Following which, the BMC staff staged a day-long dharna at the corporation office, demanding immediate action against the culprits. The staff and corporators also blocked the Janpath road in the evening.
The Odisha Administrative Service Association, which has called for its members to go on a ‘mass leave’ from Tuesday to protest against the incident, decided to put it on hold after Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi assured them of strong action against all culprits involved in the incident last night.
However, OAS officers in Sundargarh district have launched an indefinite pen-down strike. Similar protest also disrupted operations at the BMC office in Bhubaneswar. Officials donning black badges also met the BMC Commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil to demand enhanced security measures.
