Bhubaneswar: BJP and the ruling BJD today indulged in mudslinging after photos of Tito’s aide Bapu Parida taken with few BJD leaders surfaced.
Photos of Bapu with senior leaders of BJD and government officials including police have been doing rounds in political circle of the State triggering rumours about his proximity with the ruling party.
While the BJP accused the BJD leaders of shielding Tito and his aide, members of the ruling party refuted the charges.
The BJD helped gangster Tito and his aide to set up their crime empire, alleged the saffron party’s State General Secretary Prithviraj Harichandan adding that people of the State know who patronised Tito.
“Many leaders of BJD promoted the gangster and helped him in his criminal activities. People of the State and particularly Kendrapara know who was supporting him. Criminal case should be lodged against these leaders and they should be interrogated over their links with Tito and Bapu Parida,” Harichandan said.
Denying the charges, BJD secretary and son of former minister Damodar Rout, Sambit Routray said the ruling party never supported any criminal. "People with criminal background always look for support from politicians and hence Bapu Parida used to attend few party programmes,” Routray said adding that none of them knew of Bapu's links with Tito.
"When police arrested him I inquired about the reason. I was told that Bapu has been arrested in a bombing case. Weather it is a conspiracy or he actually had links with Tito will be revealed after interrogation,” Routray said.
Earlier on Saturday, Damodar Rout refuted the charges of Bapu Parida's links with gangster Tito.
“A few years ago, he was charged in connection with a criminal case. As far as I know, Bapu has no links with Tito but was scheduled to depose as witness against some close associates of Tito. This is a conspiracy to prevent him from deposing as witness,” Rout had said. Parida was arrested by the special task force of Crime Branch on Saturday.