Bhubaneswar: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said Thursday that the violence in Sambalpur during the Hanuman Jayanti procession happened due to ‘governance deficit’. A total of 25 people, including 10 police personnel were injured in the clashes. Vehicles and shops were ransacked and set on fire. Pradhan alleged Thursday that law and order situation has ‘completely collapsed’ in Odisha.
Pradhan termed Wednesday’s violence in Sambalpur as an ‘unfortunate’ incident. Dharmendra Pradhan said that he was pained the way the police were targeted.
1One on-duty woman police officer was also injured and is undergoing treatment in hospital, the Union Education Minister said. Police personnel getting injured in the clash is a classic case of ‘deterioration in law and order situation’ in the state, Pradhan said. He added that the Odisha government has ‘failed’ to maintain order in Sambalpur, the city where Hanuman Jayanti celebrations are being held since a long time. Apart from the police, a lot of poor and innocent people were also attacked and left injured, he said.
“The administration should get into the job and restore peace in Sambalpur,” Pradhan said. He alleged that there has been a breach of peace in the western region of the state. “A minister was killed by a policeman in broad daylight and a minor boy was kidnapped and murdered in Jharsuguda. Is it not sufficient to say that law and order situation has completely collapsed,” Pradhan asked.
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Pradhan also condemned the Odisha government accusing it of being ‘inefficient’. “The Odisha government’s inefficiency is exposed after the policemen were left injured in the violence.”
BJD spokesperson Shreemayee Mishra urged Pradhan not to politicise the law and order situation in Odisha. Mishra pointed out that to handle the law and order situation firmly in Sambalpur all necessary steps have been taken.
“As a responsible minister in the Central government in such a sensitive situation, it would have been appropriate if you had appealed to the people to maintain peace instead of politicising this law and order situation. The people of Odisha are peace-loving people and Odisha is a peaceful state. Don’t call people of Odisha lawless and insult them,” Mishra said.
Violence erupted in Sambalpur on Wednesday evening when stones were allegedly thrown at the bike rally taken out to celebrate the Hanuman Jayanti.