- Attackers of Pranab Balabantaray Yet to Be Arrested Even After a Week.
- Law and Order in Dharamshala Deteriorating Due to Support for Mining Mafia by Local MLA.
- Violence Taking Place in Presence of Police, But No Action Being Taken.
Bhubaneswar, 21/04/2025:A high-level delegation of the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), led by former minister and State senior media coordinator Shri Pratap Jena, met the Director General of Police (DGP) today and demanded immediate action regarding the planned violent attack on former MLA Shri Pranab Balabantaray on April 13 in Arua village, Dharamshala.
Despite the passage of more than a week and the fact that this was the eighth attack on Shri Balabantaray within the last ten months, the police have not yet arrested the actual attackers. Instead, three individuals, who reportedly have no connection with the crime, were made to surrender at the insistence of the SP and other senior police officials.
Even though Shri Balabantaray had informed the police in advance about his election campaign visit to the area and was participating in scheduled programs, his office, residence, and vehicle were attacked eight times. Despite repeated complaints and appeals to higher authorities, no concrete action has been taken.
It is widely being discussed that such violent incidents are being perpetrated by the mining mafia with the encouragement of the local MLA. Although lethal weapons like swords and axes were recovered from the attackers by the local IIC, no arrests have been made, which raises serious questions about police neutrality.
Even when Shri Balabantaray tried to call the Jajpur SP from the attack site, the SP did not answer his call. All these developments point to a serious breakdown of law and order in Jajpur district, for which the Jajpur police are directly responsible.
Today, the BJD delegation met the DGP, held detailed discussions regarding the incident, and demanded swift and decisive action.
The delegation included, the former Minister Shri Sanjay Das Burma, Shri AtanuSabyasachiNayak, MLAs Shri ArunSahoo, Shri Byomkesh Ray, Captain Dibya Shankar Mishra, Shri Sushant Rout, Shri Bishwaranjan Mallik, Shri Ananta Narayan Jena, former MLA Shri PranabBalabantaray, and media coordinators Dr. Lenin Mohanty and Dr. PriyabrataMajhi.
