JE sit-up case: Patnagarh BJD MLA shifted to Bhubaneswar for bail plea hearing

Bhubaneswar: A Special Judge in the Additional District and Session Court in Bhubaneswar will hear the bail plea of Patnagarh BJD MLA Saroj Meher today for which the latter was shifted from Patnagarh jail to Bhubaneswar at 3 am today amid tight security.

Meher was arrested for forcing junior engineer Jaykant Sabar of the Public Works Department (PwD) to do sit-ups over alleged poor road construction.

To hear cases involving MLAs and MPs, a Special Court has been set up in Bhubaneswar. Earlier, the court had issued notices to the legislator, Jaykant, his wife Praveena Rajahans, Patnagarh SDPO and government advocate of Patnagarh ADJ court asking them to remain present during the hearing of the case.

Yesterday, Praveena had accused the supporters of the legislator of issuing threats to her family.

The newly-elected legislator had forced the JE to do 100 sit-ups in public alleging poor quality of road construction in his constituency on June 4. The matter came to light after a video of the incident went viral on social media. The JE's wife had filed a complaint with the local police based on which the BJD MLA was arrested on June 24 following hours of interrogation.