Bhubaneswar, April 15: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Odisha has lashed out at the state police for failing to provide adequate security during the Hauman Jayanti rally held in Sambalpur on Saturday. The party blamed it on the State police for the violent demonstration in the town.
“Police are responsible for this incident,” said Biranchinarayan Tripathy, state spokesperson for the BJP in the state, during a press conference in the state. “Earlier, police provided security for Hanuman Jayanti, but why did they not provide security this year, despite the intelligence report?”
“There was suggestion that violence may erupt at Sunapali, Pensionpada and other locations during a meeting between the administration and peace committee. The police need to have deployed more police personnel in those locations. The police allowed a bike rally to take place on April 12, but no protection was provided.”
In addition, the police have admitted the crime. The FIR filed by IIC Dharmendra Swain at Bareipalli police station mentions this as well.
He cited yesterday’s incident, in which members of a particular religion killed a youth, as evidence that violence is still occurring in the region. There is evidence that members of a religious group have perpetrated violence, yet no action has been taken,” a BJP official said.
Sambalpur was recently visited by a seven-member fact-finding team sent by the BJP. Top leaders were also presented with a report by the team.