Bhubaneswar: Hitting out at Odisha’s Biju Janata Dal (BJD) government over the arrest of its social media cell member, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Wednesday termed the ‘midnight’ action as ‘murder of democracy’ and a sign of dictatorship.
Speaking to reporters, BJP’s Odisha unit vice president Lekhashree Samantsinghar claimed a member of party’s social media cell Sangram Patra was suddenly arrested in the wee hours when he was proceeding to Angul from Bhubaneswar.
Stating that Patra has been lodged by the police in Sambalpur in an arbitrary action, the BJP leader alleged that the sudden action amounted to ‘murder of democracy and freedom of speech’ and dictatorial method.
Accusing the BJD government of having used the police earlier against people who criticised it, she said RTI and social activists were put behind the bars for raising their voice in the past.
The government has always been vindictive towards political opponents and people who pointed out its shortcomings, she claimed, accusing the BJD government of functioning in a dictatorial and undemocratic fashion.
Noting that the IPC sections under which Patra has been held do not warrant midnight operation for arrest, Samantsinghar claimed that BJD leaders and workers have all along been making indecent remarks about BJP leaders, but no action was ever taken against them.
Claiming that she was also a victim of indecent remarks by a BJD member on social media, she said no action was taken against the man though she had lodged a complaint with the police. The government must tell people as to why Patra has been arrested, she said.
Asking the state government to clarify whether it is using the police as a political weapon, the BJP leader said the party would fight tooth and nail attempts by the ruling BJD to silence people through police action.
