BHUBANESWAR : HOOLIGANS ran riot at the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) office on Monday brutally assaulting senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer and additional commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo during the weekly public grievance hearing session in the morning.
Alleged to be supporters and workers of a local BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, the miscreants kicked and punched Sahoo and dragged him out of the BMC office in full public view. They were also seen arguing with mayor Sulochana Das and threatening other staff and officers.
The chaos that lasted for more than an hour disrupted the grievance registration and hearing and hampered other official work of the corporation. The audacious act also raised serious concerns about the safety and security protocols at government establishments in the city.
Protesting the assault, the BMC staff staged a day-long dharna at the corporation office, demanding immediate action against the culprits. The staff and corporators also blocked the Janpath road in the evening.
Sahoo also lodged a formal complaint with the Kharvela Nagar police in the connection. “While the hearing was in progress, six to seven unknown persons barged into the room and asked if I had spoken to Jagannath Pradhan.
I told them that I had a telephonic conversation with him early in the morning. However, all of a sudden they started beating me in presence of corporator of ward no 29 Jeevan Rout,” the additional commissioner said.
BJP corporator has history of violence
He alleged the miscreants tried to forcibly drag him by his shirt collar into a vehicle to go to Jagannath Pradhan and apologise. The senior OAS officer who sustained injuries in the incident further claimed that the miscreants also snatched his mobile phone and uploaded scandalous content on his Whatsapp status.
Condemning the incident, mayor Sulochana Das called for enhanced security in the corporation office. Das said the civic body will request the government for deployment of armed security personnel at the BMC headquarters to prevent such incidents in the future.
BMC commissioner Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, who spoke to police commissioner S Dev Datta Singh on the matter, said the attack on a senior bureaucrat without any provocation was demoralising. “The officer was chairing grievance hearing on my behalf. I have urged the Commissionerate Police to initiate stringent action against those involved,” Patil said.
Meanwhile, acting on the complaint, the Kharvela Nagar police arrested three persons - corporator Jeevan Rout and his associates Rashmi Mahapatra and Debashis Pradhan. “Rashmi and Debashis were part of the group that assaulted Sahoo, while Rout instigated them to attack the officer. The accused will be forwarded to the court. Further investigation into the matter is in progress,” said an officer. Police also collected the CCTV footages to identify other accused involved in the incident. A contingent of police force was also deployed at the BMC office.
The BJP corporator, Rout, had been arrested previously in January 2024 for allegedly assaulting an assistant sub-inspector (ASI). Police have also detained some of the BJD corporators and workers for blocking Janpath road and disrupting vehicular movement during their protest in the evening.