BHUBANESWAR: Eggs were thrown at the vehicles of Chief Minister, Union ministers and other political leaders at least 17 times from January, 2015 till now. While Union ministers and BJP leaders came under egg attack thrice, in 13 such incidents BJD leaders including Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik were at the receiving end.
In a written reply to a question from Dilip Ray (BJP), the Chief Minister said 89 persons have been arrested in 15 egg throwing incidents. No arrest has been made only in one incident so far when eggs were thrown at BJD MP Baijayant Panda at Jatiparilo in Cuttack district on May 30, this year he said.
The Chief Minister said, two incidents of throwing of eggs at the vehicles of ministers and political leaders were reported in 2015. He said 18 persons were arrested after eggs were thrown at the CM’s vehicle in the Capital City on February 19, 2015. Eggs were thrown at the vehicle of the then agriculture minister Pradip Maharathi in front of the collectorate at Nuapada, he said and added that three persons were arrested in this incident.
Similarly, 13 cases were reported in 2016, Naveen said and added that in January, eggs were thrown at the cars of former ministers Sanjay Dasburma and Arun Sahu. As many as seven persons were arrested in the two incidents. Vehicles of Dasburma and former minister Atanu Sabyasachi Nayak were also at the receiving end at Chhatrapur and Kuruda square in Deogarh. Eggs were thrown at the vehicle of Sahu again on the Cuttack ring road, he said. Naveen said, eggs were thrown at the vehicles of Prafulla Mallik at Banthupada in Sundargarh on August 27, Damodar Rout at Kujang on October 5 and Snehangi Chhuria at Patnagarh in December. He said, eggs were thrown at the vehicle of the then agriculture minister minister Pradip Maharathi on August 13 and 14 at Balangir.
Police arrested 16 persons after eggs were thrown at the vehicle of Union Minister Santosh Gangwar on June 24, last year at Gandhi Square in Bargarh. Eggs were also thrown at the vehicle of BJP leader Lekhashri Samantasinhar in 2016 in which three persons were arrested, he said. The Naveen said so far in 2017, two cases of egg throwing have been reported. He said 13 persons have been arrested for throwing egg at the vehicle of Union Minister Jual Oram at Aul.