Bhubaneswar: Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee, president, Niranjan Patnaik had to cough up Rs 500 as fine for not adhering to social distancing norms.
The Commissionerate Police also levied the fine on some of his followers for the same reason.
The OPCC president and his followers gave social distancing norms a toss some days ago when a clash between two rival groups of Odisha Pradesh Youth Congress (OPYC) took place at Congress Bhawan. It was alleged that the OPCC president had violated the norms during this time.
Also read: Group clash at Congress Bhawan over selection of Odisha Youth Congress president
In another incident a few days ago, he along with his followers had gone to the Governor’s house to hand over a memorandum over the government’s failure in managing the coronavirus pandemic. According to sources, he had violated social distancing norms there as well.
Notably, Smruti Ranjan Lenka, the newly appointed president of OPYC had decided to convene a meeting of youth leaders from all the districts at Congress Bhawan Tuesday. After he and other youth leaders reached the office, they found the main gate locked and confronted stiff opposition from another group. This led to a clash, prompting police to resort to mild lathi-charge.
PNN
