Rupsa: Tension mounted in Kasipada panchayat over ‘illegal’ collection of money from some people for a health insurance scheme. Locals filed a complaint and the police detained a sarpanch and a staff of an agency Thursday.
As police started an investigation, BJD and Congress activists stepped up agitation, demanding arrest of the sarpanch; hundreds of Congress and BJD workers gheraoed the police station till evening. Basta SDPO Ranjit Prusty and BJP leader Madan Mohan Datt tried to convince the agitating people.
According to a complaint, Parsuram Lenka, claiming to be a coordinator of an agency, Bharat Mission Trust, was collecting Rs 150 from each family in the area on the promise of enrolling them in a health insurance scheme. Surprisingly, Parsuram did not give receipts to the people against the money he was collecting.
Chandan Kumar Pradhan, a resident, filed a complaint with the police, alleging that sarpanch Anita Behera was involved in the fraud. Acting on the complaint, IIC Surendra Mahalik had brought Anita and Parsuram to the police station for enquiry.
Police seized Rs 2250 and some documents from Parsuram. However, BJP workers came out in support of the sarpanch and asserted that she was not involved. In the evening, the saffron party members accused the police of trying to implicate the sarpanch under political pressure and demanded her release.
Later, the SDPO intervened in the matter and the police set the two free with a warning. However, the IIC said action will be taken only after the investigation.
PNN
