BHUBANESWAR : Senior BJP leader and the party’s Berhampur Lok Sabha candidate Pradeep Panigrahy on Monday alleged he was attacked by Independent candidate of Berhampur Assembly segment Siva Shankar Dash in the presence of police personnel during the first phase of polls in Odisha on May 13.
Panigrahy was admitted to MKCG Medical College and Hospital in Berhampur and later shifted to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in the capital city. After being discharged from AIIMS on the day, Panigrahy told mediapersons, “It is a matter of concern that despite being an MP candidate and a sitting MLA, he was attacked in the presence of police personnel. This is not the first time I was targeted in the presence of police. This is the third such incident,” he said.
Panigrahy recalled he was earlier attacked in the presence of police on August 15, 2022, while he was on his way to attend a flag hoisting event in Rangeilunda block, and on August 23 last year when he was going to participate in an event of VK Pandian, then private secretary to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik, in Ganjam district.
“In the recent incident, I was attacked in front of five to seven police personnel including Gosani Nuagaon police station IIC. Though no police personnel came forward after I fell down following the attack, they gave a safe passage to the attacker to flee,” alleged Panigrahy.
He also trained his guns on the BJD government over the recent murder of a BJP worker in Khallikote. The law and order situation here is in a shambles, alleged Panigrahy. Meanwhile, police said investigation into the case is on.