Shoe Attack on CM: IIC takes U-turn, changes statement on political links of accused

Bhubaneswar: Amid the ongoing political tug of war over shoe attack on Odisha Chief Minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik, the contradicting statements of police on accused Kartik Meher's political links has stirred a major controversy.

Hours after Padampur Inspector-in-Charge Jashobant Pradhani claimed that the accused is not mentally sound and denied any political link, he made a U-turn by evening on Wednesday.

"No case was registered against Kartik Meher and it is not in my knowledge about his affiliation with BJP. Whatever I spoke in the morning was based on what I heard from BJP activists," said Jashobant.

Earlier, Pradhani had stated, "The arrested youth, identified as Kartik Meher of Buddhapali under Padampur police limits, is not mentally sound. Besides, he belongs to an agrarian family and has no political links.

SDPO Laxminarayan Panda on the other hand claimed that the IIC's statements were not based on facts rather he made such statements basing on mere hearsay.

Meanwhile, BJD spokesperson Pratap Deb alleged BJP's involvement in the shoe attack on Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.

While address a press conference today, Deb showed pictures of Kartik clad in RSS uniform that were doing rounds on social media.

"The pictures clearly indicates that the youth is mentally stable and is a member of the RSS. He had done such act in a preplanned manner as orchestrated by BJP," said Deb.

BJP spokesperson Pitambar Acharya while addressing a press conference stated that the youth is mentally challenged and BJD accusing him of having links with BJP was undemocratic.