Bhubaneswar: Odisha BJP President Manmohan Samal sought urgent intervention of Union Home Minister Amit Shah into communal violence that erupted during Hanuman Jayanti processions at Sambalpur.
Apart from Samal, several others including MP Aparajita Sarangi, BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi, MLAs Nauri Naik, L.B. Mohapatra, K. Narayan Rao and Suryabanshi Suraj have signed the letter.
Samal informed Shah about the precarious law and order situation and communal clashes in Sambalpur resulting from orchestrated violent attacks by members of a certain community in the bike rally on the eve of Hanuman Jayanti on April 12 to 14. While curfew remains in force, internet services across the district remain suspended till now.
The coordinated attacks have left various persons and dozens of policemen grievously injured, causing heavy loss to public property and torching of shops, vehicles, and private property. Besides, a tribal youth was killed by the mob on the day of Hanuman Jayanti (April 14) while dozens of civilians were injured that day, he said.
“The violence and arson in Sambalpur during the Hanuman Jayanti procession and a day before has exposed the poor intelligence network of Odisha Police and its lack of foresight in ascertaining the consequences of inadequate security arrangement and ineptitude to follow the MHA Advisory issued on April 5, 2023, for Hanuman Jayanti,” read the letter.
Claiming that these attacks were pre-planned and organised, the saffron party leader said the procession in Sambalpur was attacked at the same place where it was attacked during the last Hanuman Jayanti. The BJP leader demanded the imposition of strict laws like UAPA and NSA against the perpetrators for shouting ‘anti-national’ slogans.
“We are appalled by the biased and negligent attitude of the government of Odisha in handling this incident. We wonder why the police did not arrest the conspirators beforehand, knowing their plot, especially when similar incidents have occurred in the past,” he said.
The BJP President further alleged “The conspirators have the backing of the ruling party of Odisha for their political motives. Instead, police have resorted to arrests of innocent members of the procession who are themselves victims of these attacks.”
The administration has ignored their anti-national activities, such as building huge structures on government land and acquiring illegal weapons in their houses, he further alleged.
Strongly condemning this heinous act of communal violence, the saffron party demanded an impartial investigation by National Investigation Agency (NIA) to unravel the hatched conspiracy, and strict action against the perpetrators.
They also demanded adequate compensation and relief for the victims.
