KENDRAPARA: Tension prevails in Kendrapara and its nearby areas a day after 45-year-old BJP leader and businessman Vivekananda Moharana was shot at by four unidentified miscreants in front of Gulanagar High School in Kendrapara Sadar police limits.
Additional police personnel have been posted in the town and its nearby areas to prevent any untoward incident. Police have formed three teams to nab the culprits. Even as the exact reason behind the attack is yet to be ascertained, the district administration has appealed to the people to maintain peace in the area.
Kendrapara SDPO Rajiv Lochan Panda said, “Police are keeping a strict vigil, particularly in the sensitive areas of Kendrapara town and its nearby areas. Close cooperation among police officers and general public is required to maintain peace.”
BJP district unit president Duroyodhan Sahoo criticised the police and the district administration for their failure to ensure law and order in the district and demanded the arrest of all those responsible for the attack on the party leader.
Vivekananda, who is also the president of Ram Mandir Managing Committee of Tinimuhani, was returning to his residence at Gulanagar after attending an election meeting of BJP at Patkura on his motorcycle on Saturday night when he was shot at by four unidentified miscreants. Two bullets hit his abdomen.
Vivekananda was rushed to the district headquarters hospital here in a critical condition. Later, he was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital at Cuttack. The attack led to tension in the town and its nearby areas on Sunday as an agitated mob resorted to road blockade at Tinimuhani Chowk and Duhuria Chhak on National Highway 5(A) and other places disrupting traffic on Cuttack- Chandabali road and Paradip-Chandikhol highway. Shops and business establishments were closed on the day while vehicles remained off roads. Bus services too were affected due to the agitation.