Sambalpur Board office set afire

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Sambalpur: Motorcycle-borne miscreants allegedly torched office furniture and ransacked the premises of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) regional office near Jail Square under Dhanupali police limits here Wednesday.
Important documents and examination records as well as two scooters belonging to Board employees were destroyed. The miscreants, who are yet to be identified, came on bikes and stormed into the office at about 2 pm, said BSE joint director Suryamani Majhi.
The desperadoes then sought to know why the office was open during the ongoing “Mahabandh” and asked all the employees to vacate the building. They then vandalised office furniture, computers and fans before burning the files which soon spread all over the premises.
As the miscreants were leaving the building, they torched two scooters parked at the portico. They also assaulted some employees, Majhi said and denied any knowledge of their whereabouts.
They did not spare a few teachers who had come from various high schools in the district to submit list of examinees interested to take HSC examination, 2019.
On being reported, the Police called five of the visiting teachers who were witness to the incident to corroborate their account. Fire services personnel also reached the spot and doused the flames. Sambalpur superintendent of police Sanjeev Arora said the matter is being investigated and appropriate legal action would be taken in this regard.
Majhi said the Board office was kept open after its employees requested the Collector and district bar association (DBA) president to allow them to work as Wednesday was the last day for submission of forms for class X examinations.
A section of people claimed that the incident was the handiwork of lawyers while DBA president Bijetendriya Pradhan denied their involvement. He said the incident has reflected people’s anger against the state government which is apathetic to their demand for a High Court bench in western Odisha.