Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan on Tuesday visited Mahanga block and met the family members of the two elderly BJP workers, who were hacked to death by a group of over a dozen people last month.
Speaking to the media, he disclosed that he has briefed the Prime Minister and the Union Home Minister about the twin murders and the frequent attacks on BJP workers in the State. Addressing a condolence meeting held to pay tributes to the BJP workers Kulamani Baral (75) and Dibyasingh Baral (82), Pradhan came down heavily on police saying this double murder could have been avoided had the police acted sincerely and honestly in the 2018 political murder that had been scripted on the soil of Mahanga at the behest of ruling BJD workers.
“I request with folded hands to the police officers of the State to feel the pain and anguish of the family members of the two deceased BJP workers,” he said, adding that the women of these two families are now in a state of panic and fear. “Even nearly 75 years of our Independence, the women relatives of the murdered individuals are also fearing for their lives,” Pradhan observed. The two elderly BJP workers were brutally murdered for exposing the corrupt practices of local ruling party leaders in various Government housing schemes, he said.
While eight persons have so far been arrested in connection with the double murder, State Minister Pratap Jena, who is local MLA, is also named inFIR lodged by Kulamani’s son.