Bhubaneswar: The BJD demanded Tuesday the arrest of former minister and BJP leader Manmohan Samal and some of his supporters for their alleged involvement in the murder of party worker from Jahangir area of Dhamnagar in Bhadrak district, Pratap Chandra Rout Monday. A delegation of BJD met officials of the State Election Commission here and handed over a memorandum seeking the immediate arrest of Manmohan Samal. In it, the BJD also alleged that the BJP has been unleashing a trail of violence and terror in Odisha during the panchayat polls.
The eight-member BJD team which visited the SEC office also attracted the attention of the officials to the reign of terror unleashed by the BJP workers. They said that the since the Odisha unit of BJP is well aware of suffering heavy defeat in the panchayat polls, the workers of the saffron party has resorted to violence against the BJD and its members. At times the BJP miscreants are also targeting innocent people and government officials, the BJD delegation pointed out.
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The situation turned tense Monday in Jahangir locality during a face- off between BJD and BJP workers during campaigning. Pratap was on his way back home, when a group of BJP workers attacked him, the delegation said.
After getting information, Pratap’s brother and some other villagers reached the spot. They alleged the attackers also thrashed them and threatened them of dire consequences. The critically injured Pratap was rushed to the Dhamnagar CHC where doctors declared him dead.