Bhubaneswar: Two persons have been arrested for allegedly sending a death threat to senior Congress leader and former Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Jayadev Jena via WhatsApp.
The accused have been identified as Rakesh Natia, a local Congress worker who had earlier contested as a sarpanch candidate, and Hara Mohan Barik.
According to sources, Jena had filed a complaint, regarding the threats, on March 9 at Nandipada police station in Keonjhar. Following which, two special teams were formed to track the perpetrator, who were finally arrested late last night from Nuagaon village under Mangalpur panchayat in Jajpur district
“Hara Mohan allegedly sent the threat message after being instigated by Rakesh.” SDPO Kamal Kumar Panda confirmed.
Further investigation is underway
to ascertain other possible links, including a potential political angle given Rakesh’s Congress affiliation.
The arrests came two days after Jena voiced resentment as no arrests had been made in the case even after more than 10 days despite escalating the matter to the DGP and Keonjhar SP, and the Chief Minister’s office. The four-time MLA said that he received the threat at around 1.52 pm on March 9 from an unknown number after he spoke out against alleged mining mafia activities during a public meeting on February 6 in Keonjhar. The WhatsApp message specifically warned him of consequences if he visited Bhubaneswar. Besides demanding immediate arrest of the accused, he sought adequate police protection.
This is not the first such incident for Jena. He recalled a prior death threat on February 4, 2025, following a press conference where he lambasted the BJP government, the “double-engine” administration, and the RSS. That evening, he received a call demanding Rs 50 lakh ransom, with threats to kill him if unpaid. Although the accused in that case was eventually arrested after six months, Jena alleged that no security arrangements were provided by the government despite his requests.