The Odisha unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Tuesday suspended five of its leaders, including the in-charge of Bhubaneswar, from the primary membership of the party over their involvement in the violent events at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office on Monday, in a sharp and tough disciplinary action.
Corporator Aparup Narayan Raut, Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, Debashish Pradhan, Sachikanth Swain and Sanjeev Mishra, among others, have been suspended. The move came after reports that BMC Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo was pulled out of his office and beaten up by a group of rowdies during the upheaval and this move was initiated to check such incidents as the state is already facing criticism over rising incidents of violence in Odisha, where ruling BJD MLA MLA Prashant Kumar was recently beaten up by miscreants.
The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association declared a state-wide so-called mass leave agitation beginning Tuesday to vent their frustration and to demand responsibility after the assault. The association, however, halted their protest temporarily on promises given by the newly appointed Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. The CM has threatened stern measures against anybody who is found guilty of the attack on the senior OAS officer.
Police authorities confirmed that three persons, including BJP corporator Jeevan Rout, have been arrested over the incident. Policemen are still looking for others who have been accused. Monday night, two high-level meetings were to be held; one presided by Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja in the presence of DGP Y.B. Khurania, and the second led by CM Majhi, which involved top officials in the area, including the police commissioner and the advocate general. Such negotiations are said to have gone on, and not to end, till midnight.
To make it even worse, sanitation workers in Bhubaneswar ceased their services to hold a protest against the assault. They have demanded that all the lawbreakers be arrested instantly, and have also shown their support to the BMC official who was assaulted. It seems that the tension is still present because the investigation is taking place.
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