Odisha’s Banapur Incident: Chilika MLA Must Be Treated As Criminal, Says BJP Leader Sambit Patra

Bhubaneswar: Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev must be treated as a habitual offender of law and not as a people’s representative, said BJP’s national spokesman Sambit Patra, here on Sunday.

Terming on Saturday’s incident when Jagdev drove his car into a crowd at Banapur as a conspiracy to kill democracy, he alleged that the MLA was driving in an inebriated condition and questioned the BJD’s inaction against him. “Why is BJD not expelling Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev? Suspension of Jagdev from the BJD was a drama as he was attending the party programmes,” he said, demanding exemplary punishment for the legislator.

Patra further said that Banapur incident was not the first instance of the MLA’s unruly and violent behaviour. “The government should not show any leniency towards Jagdev as he has turned dangerous for the society. He should be treated as a criminal so that stern action can be taken against him by police and law enforcement agencies,” he said, adding that his act had maligned Odisha‘s image in the country

Patra, who is visiting the Odisha capital, also visited the BJP activists who were injured in the incident at AIIMS-Bhubaneswar.

Notably, 22 people, including 10 police personnel, were injured after the legislator ploughed his vehicle into a crowd waiting near the Banapur block development office, where the election for block chairperson was to be held. The incident was a grim reminder of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.

The crowd then went berserk and assaulted Jagdev and damaged his car.

The suspended BJD MLA has been booked for attempt to murder and obstructing officers from discharging their duty, IG (central) Narasingha Bhol had informed on Saturday, adding that he would be arrested after being discharged from hospital.

Also Read: Lakhimpur Kheri Echo In Odisha: Chilika MLA Prashant Jagdev To Be Arrested; Know The Charges Against Him [Watch]

The MLA has a history for unruly public behaviour. In September last year, Jagdev was suspended from the BJD after a video of his thrashing a BJP leader of his Chilika constituency went viral. In August 2020, a junior engineer had registered a complaint alleging that he had misbehaved with him. In 2016, too, he had landed himself in controversy for allegedly assaulting a lady tehsildar.

Also Read: Odisha MLA Drives SUV Into Crowd: Know Prashant Jagdev’s Past Police Cases