Case registered against BJD leader

Rourkela: A case was registered by police against senior BJD leader and former Odisha minister Sarada Nayak and his supporters in connection with an alleged assault on a man here today, police said.One Rajkishore Swain, once a supporter of Nayak, allegedly in an inebriated state misbehabed with the former minister and hurled verbal abuse at him, they said.

Objecting to Swain's behaviour, Nayak's supporters allegedly assaulted him, Inspector In-Charge of Plantsite police station, Arun Swain said.On the basis of a complaint lodged by Swain alleging that he was assaulted in the presence of Nayak, police registered a case, the IIC said adding further investigation was in progress.

The incident was significant as Nayak was considered to be a loyalist of suspended BJD leader Pyari Mohan Mohapatra. Nayak had been sacked from Naveen Patnaik ministry in the aftermath of a failed coup bid against the BJD government in May this year.