Cuttack: The sarpanch of Gatiroutapatna panchayat has lodged a complaint with the Director General of Police (DGP) RP Sharma, seeking action against the miscreants who had allegedly assaulted her during a public event. Laxmipriya Swain had organised People’s Empowerment—Enabling Transparency and Accountability of Odisha Initiatives (PEETHA) January 19 and was manhandled during the event.
Swain, along with the activists of backward classes association, met the DGP and lodged a complaint. Swain blamed state Sports and Youth Services Minister Chandra Sarathi Behera for the attack.
According to the complaint, Swain had organised the event at the office of Gatiroutapatna panchayat January 19. Some miscreants reached the spot and asked Swain to stop the event.
One of the miscreants hit Swain’s son with the butt of a gun when the latter raised an objection. The miscreants also threatened to kill Swain’s son. The miscreants attacked Swain as well. They manhandled her and hurled abuses at her. “The miscreants threatened to kill me and other members of my family. They had mentioned the name of the Sports and Youth Services Minister several times during the incident,” the victim alleged in her complaint.
According to Swain, she had first lodged a complaint with Chauliaganj police but no actions were taken against the miscreants. “Instead of registering a case, the police booked some of my family members at the behest of the minister. The cops have failed to provide justice to us in connection with the incident,” the victim said in her complaint.
She has threatened to launch a hunger strike in front of the DGP office if the cops do not take immediate action against the attackers.
When contacted, Behera, however, rejected the allegation and pleaded his innocence. “Neither was I present at the PEETHA event nor did I have any information on the alleged attack. Some people are dragging my name into the incident to serve their vested interests,” Behera said.
