The Keonjhar Town police on Monday arrested Sanjay Mohanty, BJP Yuva Morcha’s Keonjhar district secretary, in connection with the attack bid on Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik on Sunday night. Four other accused were also identified and efforts were on to apprehend them, informed Keonjhar SP Mitrabhanu Mahapatra.
An FIR, lodged on Sunday with the Keonjhar Town police mentioned the names of the alleged assailants, including Sanjay Mohanty.Niranjan Patnaik said in a series of tweets, “I was shocked to know that the miscreants were members of BJP’s youth wing. This is a clear case of political vendetta and desperation of BJP. Congress is raising relevant issues in the State and speaking out against the policies of BJP, which is desperately trying to get a foothold in Odisha. Congress is the biggest hurdle for them.” “I am shaken by this incident! Not because it happened to me or because of the trauma it has caused me.
I am shaken because if it could happen to me, how safe are our mothers and daughters in Odisha?,” he added. Notably, Patnaik’s car was attacked by the miscreants near Kashipur late on Sunday evening. When Patnaik was returning from the Keonjhar District Congress office after attending a programme, a Bolero intercepted his car. As Patnaik’s PSO Rajesh Singh enquired the matter, three youths got down from their SUV. While one of them caught hold of the security officer’s neck, the two others beat him up.The attackers then went to the driver of the vehicle.
In the meantime, an ambulance approached the spot. Some Congress activists also reached there. Hearing the ambulance siren, the miscreants thought it to be a police vehicle and fled the spot, said Singh.