A group of BJD supporters, including one MLA and a corporator, allegedly beat some BJP activists who were showing black flags to two State Ministers in the presence of police at Manamunda in Boudh district of Odisha on Friday.
This incident was also captured the electronic media present at the spot.
Begunia BJD MLA Prashant Kumar Jagdev and his supporters were allegedly involved in this attack on the BJP activists. According to sources, a few BJP workers of Manamunda had showed black flags at the motorcade of Ministers Sanjay Dasburma and Pushpendra Singhdeo, who were on their way to attend a rally organised by Youth BJD in Boudh district to protest against proposed projects of the Chhattisgarh government in upper end of Mahanadi river.
Mr Jagdev and his supporters, who were travelling in another vehicle in the motorcade of the Ministers, stopped at the spot and showed their anger at the BJP demonstrators.
The BJD MLA along with a corporator from Bhubaneswar was seen beating and kicking the BJP workers in the presence of police.
Following this incident, eight BJP activists were taken into custody by police. They were later released in the evening, said Boudh BJP district president Narayan Karmi. The Boudh district BJP Yuva Morcha has also filed an FIR against five persons in Manamunda police station regarding this attack. The five persons mentioned in the FIR are State Ministers Mr Dasburma, Mr Singhdeo, the MLA Mr Jagdev, Bhubaneswar corporator Amaresh Jena and BJD Youth vice-president Vijay Nayak. Mr Karmi alleged that the police had not taken any action against the persons mentioned in the FIR and had even allowed them to leave Boudh district.
Boudh district BJP had called a 12-hour hartal in the district on Saturday, said Mr Karmi.
Meanwhile, verbal duel has started between the BJP and the BJD.
The BJP leaders alleged that the ruling BJD has started to throttle democratic voices of protest. The BJD leaders alleged that the BJP was only trying to weaken voice of Odisha against Chhattisgarh’s attempt to have projects on upper end of Mahanadi through attempts to disrupt agitation plans of BJD against it.
