Assault on Odisha officer: OASA demands arrest of BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan

Bhubaneswar, July 2 (IANS) The Odisha Administrative Service Association (OASA) on Wednesday announced that the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officers will continue to be on mass leave until the government fulfils their demands which include the arrest of BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan, prime accused behind the attack on Ratnakar Sahoo, senior OAS officer and Additional Commissioner of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, the OAS association on Wednesday placed three demands which include immediate arrest of the ‘prime accused’ Jagannath Pradhan, provision of adequate security for all field-level executive officers including Tahsildars, Sub-Collectors, BDOs, and EOs to ensure their safety while discharging official duties and public condemnation of the incident by the Government, acknowledging the gravity of the attack and affirming its commitment to protect government officers.

The association again condemned the ‘dastardly’ attack on Ratnakar Sahoo while on duty. “This heinous act is a stark reminder of the risks and vulnerabilities faced by our members in the line of duty. The incident, which occurred in broad daylight, is not only an assault on an individual officer but a direct attack on the dignity and sanctity of public service in the State,” said the association in its memorandum.

Meanwhile, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari appealed to the OAS and ORS officers to call off their protest and join duty, keeping in view the flood situation in some districts of the state and the ongoing Rath Yatra. He reiterated that whoever is involved in the case will get punishment according to the law.

On Tuesday, the BJP state unit president, Manmohan Samal, suspended five BJP workers, including a corporator, from the primary membership of the party for assaulting the BMC Additional Commissioner, Sahoo.

Acting on the FIR lodged by the victim, OAS officer Sahoo, the police had earlier arrested all five suspended party workers- Corporator Aparup Narayan Raut, Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra, Debashis Pradhan, Sachikant Swain and Sanjeev Mishra.

Notably, at around 11:30 a.m. on Monday, when the public grievance meeting was in progress in the presence of other officers, staff and general people at the BMC office, six to seven unknown individuals entered the premises unauthorisedly and assaulted Sahoo after enquiring whether he had a conversation with BJP leader Jagannath Pradhan over the phone.

--IANS

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