JAGATSINGHPUR: The assault on Kujang BDO Deepak Kumar Swain by the block chairperson, vice chairperson, several sarpanchs and panchayat samiti members has snowballed into a political slugfest between BJP and BJD.
The BJD warned to intensify its protest in front of the block office on September 20 if those involved in the case are not arrested and the BDO is not transferred. The BJP too has issued a similar threat demanding the arrest of BJD leaders. Swain was assaulted and threatened with dire consequences on September 13 by block chairperson Ninarani Sahoo, vice-chairperson Gyanjit Swain, several sarpanchs and panchayat samiti members following which Kujang police had registered a case against them basing on an FIR filed by the BDO.
Following the incident, sarpanch of Gorada panchayat Nalini Nayak had filed an FIR against several people accusing them of assaulting her and others at Kujang police station while they were discussing development projects with Swain. Based on the FIR, police registered a case against Kujang sarpanch Bandita Das and local BJP leaders Tapan Tripathy, Pratap Das, Biswajit Nayak and Kaibalyanath Mohanty.
On the day, sarpanch of Bhutmundai Rohit Jena along with others accused BJD leader Bapi Sarkhel of instigating violence in Kujang. They alleged Ninarani and others forced Swain to sign false bills and blank papers and when the latter refused, threatened him with dire consequences. “The BJD leaders have committed numerous irregularities and misappropriated development funds and are now trying to suppress the matter with the help of Sarkhel,” Rohit said.