BHUBANESWAR: A special court here on Wednesday deferred the bail plea hearing of BJD MLA and Pipili Assembly constituency candidate Pradeep Maharathy till April 27.
Maharathy was arrested on Monday on the charge of attacking members of the election flying squad and Static Surveillance Team while they were conducting a raid at his farmhouse at Hunkeipur village in Pipili late on Sunday.
The Pipili candidate’s plea was slated to be heard on Wednesday but it was deferred due to delay in submission of case diary and injury report.
“We sought time to submit the case diary and the injury report. The hearing has been deferred till April 27. We will submit the case diary before the court in the next hearing,” Pipili IIC Sarat Kumar Sahu said.
Maharathy was produced before a court here on Monday and sent to Jharpada jail. However, he complained that he was feeling unwell, following which he was shifted to Capital Hospital and is yet to be discharged.
Acting on a tip-off that freebies like cash and alcohol were being allegedly distributed at the farmhouse before the third phase of polls, a 15-member team, led by an Executive Magistrate, conducted the raid. But, Maharathy and his supporters brutally thrashed them.
Police registered a case under Sections 147, 148, 149, 171 (b), 186, 307, 332, 341 and 353 of IPC along with Section 123 of Representation of the People Act.