The Jeypore Congress activists took out a rally here demanding immediate arrest of the accused in the alleged attack on kin of former Koraput MlA Tara Prasad Bahinipati, who was also the Congress nominee for the Jeypore Assembly constituency in the current elections.

More than a hundred party workers, led by Town Congress president Narendra Mohanty, participated in the rally at the district party office and gathered in front of the Sub-Collector’s residential office here.The party leaders flayed the police lethargy in arresting the accused as the attack took place a fortnight ago. They also presented a memorandum to  CEO Mona Sharma through Jeypore Sub-Collector and Returning Officer Surendra Kumar Panda, seeking their intervention.

On April 10 last, a group of youths led by District BYJD president Dharmendra alias Kuni Adhikarin had attacked Bahinipati’s kin in hotel Madhumati here. Bahinipati later had lodged an FIR with the police accusing Minister Rabi Narayan Nanda, his son Aditya alias Bonti Nanda, Youth BJD leader Dharmendra Adhikari and his colleagues Bapi Parida, Ranjit Bagh and three others of their involvement in the attack. The police also had seized CCTV footage of the incident including a knife, a live cartridge and a used cartridge from the hotel premises and also interrogated the owner and the manager of the hotel, who was on duty. The police also took some CCTV footages of another hotel amidst the town where Minister Nanda’s son was present on the fateful evening, sources said.

Demanding immediate arrest of the accused, the Congress activists also had observed a bandh in Koraput district on April 12 in protest against the incident. A delegation of party leaders including Bahinipati, veteran Congress leaders Narasingh Mishra and Kishore Patel had also met Director General of Police Prakash Mishra recently and sought his intervention.

Meanwhile, the BJD State Chief and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik also suspended the BYJD president Kuni Adhikari from the party for his anti party activity. Two teams of police personnel headed by Additional SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra have been engaged to investigate the incident. The Jeypore Town Police also with the help of Capital Police interrogated Minister Nanda’s son Bonty at Bhubaneswar, sources revealed.For last fortnight, all the accused were absconding and the police had failed to catch hold of them. Meanwhile, Bahinipati has demanded immediate action to arrest the culprits soon or else he said the party would start an agitation against the police.