Ink attack on 5T Secy VK Pandian in Puri; one detained

After the black flag protest and egg attack, 5T Secretary VK Pandian faced an ink attack during his visit to Satyabadi in Puri district on Saturday.

A person reportedly threw ink at Pandian and some portion of the ink also smeared the face of Puri Collector Samarth Verma.

VK Pandian reportedly visited Satyabadi to attend a programme at UGS College when the incident occurred. Pandian was reportedly meeting and greeting Mission Shakti members when ink was thrown at him.

The exact reason why the person threw ink at the 5T Secretary is not clear. However, the person has been detained by police soon after the incident and taken for interrogation. The police identified him as Bhaskar Sahoo, a resident of Kanas area. 

Earlier in the day, the 5T Secretary visited several parts of Puri district.

In this regard, 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. In Odisha, ministers, and MLAs have become valueless. Now the officers who are getting their salaries from the people’s money have become more powerful."

Congress leader Sudarshan Das 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.”

But, BJD MLA Umashankar Samantaray 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.” 

“In Odisha, an election environment has already been formed. For the last few days, the issue of the 5T secretary transgressing into the rights of the political leaders has been in the pith of the discussions. While Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi targeted the 5T secretary at a press meet recently, yesterday BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik hit out at him in his editorial. Today’s incident can be said to be a reflection of all of these things. But such act can never be welcomed in our state,” said senior journalist, Prasanna Mohanty.