While the body of missing 15-year-old boy Jyotirmay Behera was recovered on Monday, a political slugfest over the issue continued as the BJP and the Congress targeted the State Government.
The BJP Bhubaneswar unit, which had filed an FIR against Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials on Sunday at the Khandagiri police station, staged a demonstration before the civic body office on Monday.
Hundreds of party workers came in a procession and tried to barge into the BMC office. This resulted in a scuffle with police and some of the agitators were detained. Party leader Dillip Mohanty demanded a compensation of Rs 1 crore to the family members of the deceased. On Sunday, Congress members led by Jatni MLA Suresh Routray had also staged a demonstration over the incident and Student Congress activists blocked the new Jagamara Road for hours.
On Monday, leaders of Bhubaneswar District Congress met the city DCP and filed an FIR against the BMC and the State Sewerage Board alleging that their negligence led to the tragedy in which the minor boy lost his life. Party district president Biswajit Das and senior leader Rashmi Mohapatra said that though Bhubaneswar was declared as Smart City six years ago, some Government agencies are carrying out inferior-quality works and siphoning of funds. “While norms of a Smart City say all drains need to be covered, why 50 per cent of sewerage lines and drains are remaining open in Bhubaneswar,” questioned Mohapatra. In 2015, a nine-year-old boy died after falling into a city drain while a 65-year-old woman had drowned in an exposed drain in 2019.