BHUBANESWAR: In a dramatic event, a youth allegedly held his mother hostage at knifepoint outside Odisha Assembly's security perimeter on Thursday and accused some ruling party leaders of indulging in corruption.
The youth, a resident of Dasapalla in Nayagarh district, threatened to kill his mother as security personnel attempted to rescue the woman. He claimed that a huge amount of money was stolen from the Jagannath temple in Puri and two Ministers of the State were involved in corruption.
"Governor please help me, I am not mentally unstable. Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik is not corrupt but many leaders of BJD are dishonest," he said.
The officers of Commissionerate Police very tactfully engaged him in a conversation for over 15 minutes while he was holding his mother hostage and subsequently they overpowered him and rescued the woman.
"He is my son and he asked me to accompany him to a hospital on Thursday. But, later he brought me here and caught hold of me," the woman said.
As the incident on the busy PMG square left the commuters thunderstruck, Senior Congress MLA Suresh Routray charged the State government raising questions over the security arrangements during the Assembly session.
"I am shocked to see such a hostage situation happen in front of the Assembly that too when the House is underway. If the youth had taken some Minister, Speaker, or even the DGP into hostage then who would have been responsible," questioned Routray.
Meanwhile, the Commissionerate Police asserted that there was no breach of security as adequate personnel and officers have been deployed during the ongoing monsoon session of Assembly to maintain law and order.
The police said a youth with known psychiatric ailments held his mother hostage outside the security perimeter of the State Assembly. Police officers patiently dealt with the hostage situation and safely rescued the woman.
"The youth told his mother to accompany him to Capital Hospital in the city. The duo was walking towards the hospital but on seeing media persons and policemen near the eastern gate of the Assembly on the Sachivalaya Marg, he stopped and held his mother hostage at knifepoint. He was mentally unstable," said Bhubaneswar DCP Umashankar Dash.
The youth has been sent to the psychiatry department of SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. The police officers involved in rescuing the woman will be encouraged for their patience and professionalism, the police sources added.