Odisha tribals gherao collectorate, demand action against Patnagarh MLA who forced PwD engineer to do sit-ups
BALANGIR: Hundreds of tribals on Wednesday gheraoed the Collectorate for more than two hours demanding action against Patnagarh MLA Saroj Meher who forced a junior engineer do sit-ups.
The agitators, under the banner of Zilla Adivasi Kalyan Sangha, took out a rally from Koshal Kalamandal field to the collectorate before staging demonstration in front of the office.
A scuffle erupted between the agitators and the police as they tried to barge into the office.
Later, a delegation of leaders met Collector Arindam Dakua and submitted a memorandum, demanding action against Patnagarh MLA for misbehaving with a tribal officer in front of the public, said general secretary of the Sangha, Niranjan Bishi.
The newly-elected BJD MLA had forced the JE of Belpada block Jasobant Sabar to do 100 sit-ups over alleged poor quality of road work.
The act had evoked strong reactions and condemnation from different sections of society.
The junior engineer was also asked to reconstruct the entire stretch of road by spending money from his own pocket.
Later, the MLA tendered an apology but justified his action stating he did so to pacify the locals who were angry over poor road construction work in their area and demanded action against the official.
On the other hand, the JE’s wife Prabina Rajhans filed an FIR at Patnagarh police station claiming that her husband had not returned home after the incident.
She feared that he might have been kidnapped and demanded action on the issue. The Collector has also submitted a report to the Chief Secretary on the issue.