NH violence: Angul BJP chief held

District BJP general secretary Jajati Pattnaik described the arrest as arbitrary and illegal and said Bhagirathi was in no way involved in the violence.

ANGUL: Police on Sunday arrested district BJP president Bhagirathi Pradhan from Bhubaneswar for his involvement in NH violence that took place after an elderly man was allegedly killed by tigress Sundari at Tainsi village on October 21. 

“Bhagirathi was one of the main accused in the NH violence case. Three police teams were at State Capital to nab Bhagirathi. On Sunday morning, he was arrested from a house at Mendhasal on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar on charges of rioting, attempt to murder and damage to government property,” said Angul SDPO Harihar Pani.

On October 21, a mob, which had gathered at NH-55 with the body of Trinath Sahu, allegedly pelted stones at police and damaged some police vehicles demanding compensation and shifting of the tigress.
Meanwhile, the arrest evoked sharp protest from BJP activists who, led by former MP Rudranarayan Pani and State secretary Kalandi Samal, staged demonstration in front of the SP’s office on Sunday. The protesters also burnt an effigy of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik over the issue.

District BJP general secretary Jajati Pattnaik described the arrest as arbitrary and illegal and said Bhagirathi was in no way involved in the violence. “Bhagirathi is being targeted by the ‘Third Floor’ as he is close to Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. It was a spontaneous agitation by the locals after there were two human deaths due to attack by the tigress,” he said. Bhagirathi was produced in SDJM court here and sent to jail.

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