PURI: A sub-inspector of police was on Wednesday placed under suspension on the charge of dereliction in duty in the Balanga Police Station explosion case in Puri district, an officer said.
Sub-Inspector Tapoi Nayak, who was in charge of the Malkhana (storeroom) of Balanga Police Station, has been suspended by Puri SP K V Singh after the preliminary inquiry conducted by Puri Additional Superintendent of Police Purnachandra Pradhan.
"The investigation so far indicated that the explosive materials seized by police since 2018, were stored at the malkhana instead of being defused immediately," Pradhan said.
The Monday night explosion caused severe damage to the Balanga police station building.
Though many documents, computers and other essential items were damaged in the explosion, fortunately there was no report of human casualty as the police personnel were deployed on by-election duty in Pipili assembly segment.
Inspector General of Police, Central Range, Narasingha Bhola, who visited the mishap site, had ordered an inquiry headed by the Puri ASP.
The IGP also directed to set up a temporary camp police station at Balanga till the building is repaired.
The incident also sparked a political row between the ruling BJD and the opposition BJP which alleged that the explosion was created to destabilise the ongoing by-election process in Pipili assembly segment.
At least four gram panchayats under Balanga Police station jurisdiction comes under the Pipli assembly segment where the by-poll is scheduled to take place on Thursday.
The opposition party also demanded massive deployment of central forces in Pipili as BJP national spokesperson Sambit Patra alleged that the local police were in hand in gloves with the anti-social elements to disturb the election process in Pipili.
A delegation led by Patra also met Odisha's Chief Electoral Officer (CEO) S K Lohani and lodged formal complaint demanding proper security for the polling stations and voters as they suspected violence by the ruling BJD supporters.
Meanwhile, the administration has deployed about 2,000 security personnel including three companies (300 jawans) of BSF for the smooth conduct of the by-poll at Pipili assembly segment.
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