BMC official’s assault: OAS Association’s mass leave decision ‘not called off, just postponed’

Following a meeting with Chief Minister Mohan Majhi, the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association has postponed its mass leave decision protesting over the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo, Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC).

CM Majhi has reportedly assured the association that no accused will be spared in connection with the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo.

“Chief Minister met the association members for almost an hour at 11 PM today, along with the CS, DGP, CP and the AG in attendance and assured us that the culprits and the perpetrators behind the scene shall be strictly punished as per stringent provisions of Law. Already, 3 accused have been arrested, and a hunt is on to nab the others. He also requested not to proceed on leave or take any such measures and appealed to have faith in him,” informed the association in a release.

"In reverence to the CM's appeal, the mass leave tomorrow (July 1) is not called off rather is hereby postponed. However, the state association requests all district associations and members of the fraternity to meet tomorrow and condemn the incident, along with sending a copy of the resolution to the state association. Further course of action shall be intimated by the State Association,” the release read.

The OAS association further urged its members to keep their morale high. “The state association stands by each member like a rock and is ensuring all possible remedies that such acts shall never happen. All other association, including the IAS/OFS/OSS associations and others, have pledged their support to our cause,” it added.

Assault On BMC Official: The Incident

Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo was dragged from his office during a public hearing and brutally attacked on Monday. Based on a complaint by Sahoo at the Kharvelnagar Police station, the Commissionerate Police swung into action and arrested three persons.

The accused trio has been identified as Jeevan Rout, Rashmi Mahapatra, and Debashis Pradhan. They have been charged under the following serious sections of BNS: BNS Sections: 333, 132, 121(1), 121(2), 109, 351(2), 62, 140(2), 304, 54, 61(2), 189(2), 190, and 3(5). 

While the motive behind the attack is yet to be ascertained, the assailants are reportedly members of the BJP Yuva Morcha. They allegedly tried to kidnap Sahoo after assaulting him. It is also being alleged that BJP Corporator Jeevan Rout is the main conspirator.