Puri: 5T Secretary VK Pandian faced an ink attack during his visit to Satyabadi in Puri district Saturday.
According to a source, a man allegedly hurled ink at Pandian, which also smeared the face of Puri Collector Samarth Verma.
The man who allegedly threw ink at the IAS officers was identified as Bhaskar Sahoo, a resident of Haripur village under Kanas block in Satyabadi Assembly constituency in the district. The police overpowered Sahoo and detained him.
The source informed that VK Pandian was on a tour of Satyabadi to participate in an event at Utkalmani Gopabandhu Smruti Mahavidyalaya (UGS College). The ink-throwing incident took place while Pandian was extending greetings to members of Mission Shakti.
Pandian went on meeting people despite the attack and received grievances from people while wearing the white shirt sprinkled with ink. Earlier in the day, the 5T secretary visited several areas of Puri district.
The cops are questioning Bhaskar Sahoo, the source added.
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The ink attack was soon followed by political potshots between the three main political forces in Odisha.
Condemning the ink attack, Satyabadi’s BJD MLA Umakanta Samantaray said, “It is a conspiracy by the Opponents. The man behind the shameful act was a BJP candidate for Panchayat Samiti elections in 2022. The BJP has funded the man as they are highly insecure by the fast-paced developmental works that are being carried out under the 5T initiative”
The BJP refuted the allegations levelled by BJD regarding the incident. BJP leader from Satyabadi Surath Biswal said, “BJP has nothing to do with this. Satyabadi MLA might know the man behind the incident better than me as his village is close to the native place of Umakanta Samantray. Although, I condemn the ink attack on Pandian. However, it should be kept in mind that not just BJP, even BJD members and people of Odisha are fed up with current political scenario in the state where leaders are rallying behind one bureaucrat.”
Congress leader Ganeswar Behera said, “I condemn the ink-attack on 5T Secretary. Having said that, the allegation raised by BJD is baseless. The ruling party should level accusations with concrete proof. In my personal opinion, hurling eggs or smearing somebody’s face with ink is not the ideal way to demonstrate.”
The 5T secretary, who is undertaking tours across Odisha on the direction of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to hear grievances of people, had earlier faced black flag protests and an egg attack.
PNN
