RTI Activist’s Family Attacked In Odisha’s Jajpur; BJD Role Alleged

Jajpur: A Right to Information (RTI) activist and his family in Odisha’s Jajpur district faced the wrath of some villagers after they sought information on various government welfare projects of his gram panchayat through the RTI Act, police said on Saturday.

The RTI activist, identified as Ashok Kumar Pati, alleged that some residents of Rahasoi village, under the jurisdiction of Dasarathpur police station, were not happy with him and his wife Lalita for seeking information on government welfare projects of the gram panchayat, a police officer said.

The residents, stated to be supporters of the BJD, led by the husband of the local Sarpanch, then targeted Ashok and his wife when they exposed their wrongdoings through RTI information.

As per the complaint filed by Lalita at Dasarathapur police station, some villagers of Rahasoi led by local sarpanch’s husband Siba Prasad Rath and BJD leader Dipti Ranjan Panigrahi alias Babu came to their house on Friday and abused them in filthy language because they sought information on different government welfare projects of the gram panchayat through the RTI Act.

Hearing the commotion, Lalita and her mother-in-law stepped out of their house and protested. It led to a heated exchange of words between the group and them. The villagers then attacked Lalita and her mother-in-law.

“They dragged us to the village road by catching our hair and thrashed us in full public view,” the complainant claimed.

The local police went to the spot and brought the situation under control.

The police have arrested two persons – Dipti Ranjan Panigrahi alias Babu and Maheswar Sethy – in connection with the incident.

Four FIRs were registered from both groups and investigation into the incident is on, the police officer said.

“During the investigation, we came to know that the RTI activist revealed the wrongdoings of some government welfare projects in the panchayat. As a result, some villagers got angry and attacked the women of the RTI activist’s family, the Inspector-in-Charge of Dasarathpur police station, Badrikanath Behera, said.

“Investigation is underway. We have arrested two persons in connection with the incident and will arrest others involved in the crime,” Behera added.