CUTTACK: Tension continued to grip Nrutanga village under Mahanga police station in the district for the second day following the brutal murder of former Mahanga block chairperson and BJP leader Kulamani Baral (73) along with a close associate Dibyasingh Baral (80) over alleged political rivalry on Saturday night.
Five platoons of police forces were deployed in the village to prevent any flare-up in the situation as the bodies of the slain leaders were brought to the village from SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, for cremation on Sunday.
More than 3,000 workers flanked by several senior BJP leaders including State unit president Samir Mohanty, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik and general secretary Lekhasri Samantasinghar took the bodies in a massive bike rally from Khandol to Nrutanga. The mourning party workers were found shouting slogans against Law Minister Pratap Jena and chanting “Pagal Babu Amar Rahe” till the bodies reached Nrutanga.
“The family members of the deceased leader have mentioned the Law Minister’s name in the FIR, stating that the murderous attack was carried out at his behest. The Law Minister should resign or the Chief Minister should dismiss him from the ministry immediately,” Mohanty told mediapersons.
On Sunday, Kulamani’s son Ramakant Baral filed an FIR naming 12 persons including eight people from Nrutanga and four persons from the nearby Jankothi village accusing them of hacking his father and relative to death over political rivalry. “The incident is a fallout of the exposure of massive corruption in Prime Minister Awas Yojana implementation in the region,” Ramakant stated in his FIR.
“The attack was carried out at the behest of Law Minister Pratap Jena. The accused persons had also brutally murdered another BJP worker Bikash Chandra Jena in the village in 2018. The police did not take any action against them and now they killed my father. The Minister is shielding the accused,” the FIR alleged.
While district BJP unit president Prakash Behera has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik into the incident, the Law Minister refuted the allegation. “I will personally look into the case so that culprits get punishment,” said Jena, while condemning the murder.
Cuttack SP (Rural) Jugal Kishore Kumar Banoth said that a case has been registered under section 302 of IPC basing on the FIR lodged by Kulamani’s son.Meanwhile, Mahanga police on Sunday detained one suspect in connection with the case.
“Police scientific team personnel have collected evidence from the spot. As many as five police teams each headed by an inspector have been formed and are conducting raids at different places to nab the accused. Two Additional SPs are monitoring the case,” Banoth said.
Kulamani was a popular leader and played a key role in exposing corruption in the region. He was BJP’s Salipur Mandal in-charge (Prabhari). On Saturday at about 7.30 pm, Kulamani was returning home along with his associate Dibyasingh in a motorcycle when some miscreants attacked them with sharp-edged weapons leading to his death on the spot. Dibyasingh was rushed to SCB MCH where he succumbed to the injuries in the wee hours of Sunday.