Bhaskar Sahoo, a youth who was involved in the ink attack on 5T Secretary VK Pandian and Puri Collector at Satyabadi area, was reportedly released after a brief detention by police late Saturday night.
As per reports, Sahoo was picked up by police and other security personnel from the spot soon after he threw ink on Pandian. Some portion of the ink also got smeared on Puri Collector Samarth Verma who was accompanying the 5T Secretary to a programme at UGS college yesterday.
Sources said that Sahoo was quizzed by a police team and was released later on the personal guarantee of his elder brother. Sahoo, who hails from Haripur village, has reportedly expressed grief over the incident and has submitted in writing not to repeat such an incident in the future.
"My protest was over several problems in the area including Daya river protection, waste water from Bhubaneswar. Though I had submitted several representations, no step was taken for resolving several issues including drinking water problems," said Sahoo adding that it was not the right way but he will continue with his protest to resolve the basic issues here.
The ink attack on 5T Secretary VK Pandian had earlier sparked off a political debate in Odisha.
Congress leader Sudarshan Das yesterday said, “The ink attack on him, who has been smearing ink on the democratic system and on the faces of ministers and MLAs, is quite natural.”
BJP leader Pravati Parida said, “It is obvious that people will keep venting their ire at those who have crossed their limits and killed democracy. The person who threw ink at the 5T secretary is a BJD worker. He might be angry about the local MLA not being invited to the event. So the fight between the officers and the party leaders is par for the course."
BJD MLA Umashankar Samantaray yesterday alleged, “The youth who threw ink at the 5T secretary is a frontline BJP worker. He had also unsuccessfully contested for the post of Panchayat samiti member in the last Panchayat election. The BJP had implanted him to throw ink at the 5T secretary.”