Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association Tuesday postponed its planned mass leave protest after a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi. The protest was in response to the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo, Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).
Earlier Monday, the decision to go on a mass leave was taken at a meeting of the association, chaired by its president Jyoti Ranjan Mishra in Bhubaneswar.
OAS officer and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo was allegedly dragged from his office and assaulted by a group of miscreants Monday, police said.
According to a statement issued by OAS Association president Jyoti Ranjan Mishra, “The CM has assured the association that the culprits and the perpetrators behind the scene, however powerful they may be, shall be strictly punished as per stringent provisions of law.”
On the appeal of Majhi, the association decided not to proceed on leave or take any such measures, Mishra said.
“Hence, in reverence to the CM’s appeal, the mass leave from July 1 is not called off but is hereby postponed,” he said.
“The police have so far arrested three persons, including a BJP corporator Jeevan Rout, in connection with the assault and are searching for others,” an officer said.
The state government held two meetings with the representatives from the OAS association on Monday night, the official said.
“The first meeting was held with Chief Secretary Manoj Ahuja in the presence of DGP YB Khurania. Later, another round of meeting was conducted under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister in the presence of the chief secretary, DGP, police commissioner and advocate general. The meeting lasted till midnight,” he said.
Sanitation workers in Bhubaneswar have called off their services in protest against the assault of the additional commissioner of the BMC. The workers demanded the immediate arrest of all accused in the incident.
PNN & Agencies
