Rajnagar: A woman OAS officer was allegedly attacked by a local BJP leader at her office chamber in Rajnagar block headquarters in Kendrapara district, triggering protests. While the entire incident has been captured in CCTV installed in the office chamber, the day-to-day work at the block office came to a standstill as the staff resorted to ceasing work to register a protest against the attack on the woman officer.
Vehicular traffic in the town was disrupted as BJD workers blocked the entry road to the town. The incident occurred Friday afternoon. BJP leader Lalit Kumar Behera, who contested unsuccessfully in the last Assembly polls, along with his supporters, allegedly barged into the chamber of Rajnagar BDO Tilottama Prusty and intimidated her to expedite some office work. Later, he allegedly tried to attack her. However, Behera was stopped by his supporters from physically assaulting the woman officer on duty.
No FIR has been registered so far, while an administrative inquiry has been ordered.
“The Rajnagar BDO has informed me of the incident through a written complaint. The sub-collector is inquiring into it. Complainant officer Prusty alleged that the BJP leader tried to assault her while on duty. CCTV footage is being verified. Such an incident of attempted assault on an officer is unfortunate,” said Kendrapara Collector Raghuram R Iyer.
“The administration has taken it seriously and will ensure steps to avert such incidents,” Iyer added.
Both the BJD and Congress have condemned the incident. OPCC president Bhakta Charan Das in a social media post said, “Attack on a woman BDO at Rajnagar Block Office by BJP leader Lalit Behera and his supporters, exposed BJP’s politics of intimidation. Although she narrowly escaped unharmed from the incident, captured on CCTV, lays bare the BJP’s culture of arrogance and goondaism. I strongly condemn this incident and demand strict action against the accused. Odisha will not tolerate threats to women or the misuse of power to browbeat government officials.”
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said, “We strongly condemn the barbaric attack on the lady BDO of Rajnagar by a mob of 30 hoodlums, led by BJP leader Lalit Behera.”
