JAJPUR/BHUBANESWAR: BJD leader and former Dharmasala MLA Pranab Kumar Balabantaray was attacked and his car vandalised by some miscreants at Aruha village in Jajpur district on Sunday. Balabantaray, who escaped unharmed, was going to attend a religious ceremony at the village when the incident took place.
According to reports, the former legislator was heading in his SUV to take part in the Hingula Yajna at the village. When he was about to reach the venue at around 1 pm, some club-wielding youths, intercepted his vehicle and started attacking it.
The former MLA escaped unhurt as he was rescued by locals, said to be his supporters, who rushed to the spot seeing the commotion. But his vehicle was severely damaged by the armed group.
The incident has sparked tension in the area. Even as Balabantaray accused local MLA Himanshu Sekhar Sahoo of being behind the attack, he did not file any complaint saying he had no faith in Jajpur police.
“I was invited to the Hingula Yajna at Aruha village. When I reached there, supporters of the local MLA attacked my vehicle. They had been plotting to kill me by using armed goons for the last couple of days. They had come with bhujali and swords to attack me,” Balabantaray alleged.
BJD president Naveen Patnaik condemned the attack on Balabantaray, stating that it was a reflection of the deteriorating law and order situation in the state. In a post on social media platform X, he said,”If public representatives are unsafe, it raises serious concern about the safety of common citizens.”
Alleging that the incident took place in the presence of police, Balabantaray said he had informed the Jajpur SP before leaving Bhubaneswar on the day. “Police should take suo motu action against the attackers after examining video footage of the incident which has gone viral,” he added.
Balabantaray alleged that criminal activities are on the rise in the district and the sitting MLA was patronising such elements and forcing police not to take any action against the culprits.
However, Sahoo dismissed the allegations and said he was presently outside the state. “We are not involved in the matter. It is a dispute between two groups of BJD. The law will take its own course,” he said.
Meanwhile, two platoons of police forces have been deployed and security has been tightened in the area to prevent any escalation. “We have started investigation into the incident and will arrest all the culprits soon,” said Jenapur police station IIC Nirupama Jena.
Senior BJD leader Bhrugu Baxipatra said that a delegation of party leaders will meet the DGP if the culprits are not arrested within 48 hours.