Odisha Police Has Become A Tool In BJD’s Hand, Says Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu

Referring to the unannounced entry of a posse of policemen into his office at Baripada in Mayurbhanj district last month, Union Minister of State (MoS) for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu on Tuesday charged the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) of orchestrating the episode. 

“It shows the hopelessness of BJD,” said Tudu. 

In an exclusive interview to OTV, the Union Minister termed the conduct of the police ‘unfortunate’. Lashing out at the BJD, Tudu said, “The ruling party suffered an electoral debacle in Mayurbhanj in the last elections and has since been in a state of utter hopelessness. They are getting jealous of our party (BJP) gaining ground.”   

He said the instance of police entering a Union Minister’s office, without seeking his permission and during his absence, is unfortunate as well as condemnable. 

Notably, it was alleged that Union Minister Tudu had assaulted the District Planning Board’s deputy director Ashwini Mallick and assistant director Debashish Mohapatra in his office on January 21. Later, a case was registered against the Union Minister at the Baripada Town police station.   

“They claim that the incident occurred at around 2 pm on that day. They could have gone to the police station to lodge a complaint immediately if at all they were manhandled.  Instead, they went to the police station late in the night at 10 pm. Significantly, instead of taking their staff along with them they went with some BJD workers to lodge the complaint. It clearly indicates the role of the BJD in the incident,” Tudu alleged. 

Accusing the police of acting at the behest of the ruling BJD, Tudu said, “Police had never been so active in past. But in this case, why the police became so active?”