Rajnagar: Tension gripped UK Mahavir College at Madanpur in Pattamundai block of Kendrapada district over the student union elections after Biju Chhatra Jana ta Dal (BCJD)-backed president candidate Dipankar Rout was allegedly forced to withdraw his nomination and assaulted by non-students in the presence of police.
Protesting the incident, students blocked the Rajnagar-Katak main road, demanding the arrest of BJP leaders allegedly involved in the incident. The road blockade continued for nearly five hours, leaving hun dreds of vehicles stranded.
Despite the arrival of police personnel, including IICs of three police stations, the SDPO and additional force, tension continued at the spot. According to sources, BCJD-backed candidates were holding a meeting in a house at a short distance from the college Saturday.
Two students suddenly arrived and told Rout that police had taken away his father and others. As Rout came out, he was allegedly forced into a vehicle and taken to the college. He was then confi ned to a room, where efforts were made to make him fill out a nomination withdrawal form.
Other BCJD-backed candidates and students reached the room, tore up the form and brought Rout out of the college. However, as soon as he came outside, a group of non-students allegedly surrounded him, knocked him to the ground and brutally assaulted him. The incident triggered widespread protests and heightened tension on the campus.
He was brutally assaulted in front of the college in the presence of police, according to allegations. A female student was also allegedly beaten. Tension escalated further after BJP leader Lalit Kumar Behera and his supporters arrived at the spot. Dipankar was initially taken to the Rajnagar CHC in a police vehicle and later referred to the Kendrapada DHH.
Students surrounded the police, questioning why the person accused of assaulting Dipankar had arrived in a police vehicle and why he was being transported to the hospital in a police vehicle instead of an ambulance.
Police subsequently called an ambulance and sent Dipankar to Kendrapada hospital. Students staged a roadblock for nearly five hours, demanding the arrest of the BJP leader and outsiders allegedly involved in the assault. Subhakanta Das, campus committee secretary of the BCJD, lodged a complaint against the BJP leader and the outsiders at the Rural police station.