JAGATSINGHPUR: With the offices of Executive Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer of Rural Development (RD) department remaining closed for the last five days in protest against frequent attacks on their officials, development works including construction of roads and buildings have been paralysed in the district.
Sources said miscreants forcibly entered the house of head clerk of RD department Tapan Satpathy on Tuesday last and vandalised his property. The miscreants poured kerosene and set fire to his house and valuable assets. Though Satpathy lodged a complaint with Jagatsinghpur police on the matter, the accused are yet to be nabbed.
In February, two miscreants had barged into the office of Rural Development department and ransacked the offices of Executive Engineer and Assistant Engineer demanding the work order of a particular road project in their favour. They had even ransacked the computer room and attacked computer operator Mirza Moti Beig and another employee Prasant Routray. Routray suffered deep injuries on his face, hands and head in the attack and was admitted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
Miffed over the attacks, employees of the offices of Executive Engineer, Assistant Engineer and Junior Engineer of Rural Development department decided to abstain from work and demanded arrest of the accused persons.
Following the closure of the offices, several projects like construction of roads, buildings and bridges have been stalled causing severe inconvenience to the locals.
Assistant Engineer of RD Madhusudan Swain said frequent bomb hurling and attacks on officials have led to this situation. The aggrieved employees have shut the offices demanding security, he added. Executive Engineer of Irrigation Division B Pramod Kumar Patra said, “We have sought intervention of the Collector and Superintendent of Police for providing security to our staff.”