Post News Network
Puri: Hundreds of locals gheraoed Pipli police station here after the body of Sushant Mishra, who was brutally murdered allegedly over a political rivalry Sunday, reached Pipli market from SCB Medical College and Hospital Monday.
Mishra’s body was taken to the local Biju Janata Dal (BJD) office, where hundreds of party workers had assembled. Pipli MLA and agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy paid his last respects to Mishra. Among leaders who gathered at the party office were Pipli block chairman Yudhistir Swain, block president Prafulla Swain and Delang block president Bairagi Jena.
The villagers staged an agitation for over an hour by keeping Mishra’s body outside Pipli police station. They alleged that Mishra lost his life due to the inaction of Pipli police and that Mishra was a casualty of political rivalry.
The agitators demanded the arrest of all those who perpetrated and conspired for Mishra’s murder and refused to remove the body from outside the police station. After police intervened, they took Mishra’s body to his native place, Jambila. Mishra’s mother, Ritanjali Mishra, has named 27 people, including a senior Congress leader, as accused in the murder case.
Meanwhile, police conducted raids at the Madhipur residence of Yudhistir Samantray and his relatives’ houses in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. Samantray is yet to be arrested, said sources. Fearing escalation of violence at Pipli, the administration deployed 15 platoons of police there.
“There have been growing conflicts between the two political parties for a long time. Bombs were hurled at Madhipur September 25, 2014, following which we arrested Samantray’s son Priyabrat and booked him under National Security Act (NSA). However, this murder could not be prevented,” said Pipli IIC Jadunath Jena.
