Bijepur tense after bullets fly

BIJEPUR:A day after unidentified miscreants opened fire at the house of mandal president of BJP Yuva Morcha Manoranjan Meher at Pada village under Bijepur in Bargarh district, politics has heated up in the Assembly segment which will soon go for by-election. While the incident has sparked tension in the region, the BJP on Monday staged protest in front of Bijepur police station demanding arrest of the culprits. The agitators accused BJD leader and Labour Minister Sushanta Singh of perpetrating the incident. Padampur MLA Pradeep Purohit threatened to intensify protest if Singh and those behind the incident are not arrested within 48 hours.

He said BJD has resorted to terror tactics to spread panic among the people sensing imminent defeat. On Sunday evening, miscreants came in a vehicle and fired at Manoranjan’s house. Though there were no reports of any injury, the bullets left marks on walls of the building. Both BJD and BJP are eyeballing each other ahead of the polls and the incident has built up tension in the Assembly segment. Bijepur police have registered a case under Section 307/34 IPC besides 25 & 27 Arms Act against unknown persons and are investigating into the matter. While police personnel have been deployed to prevent the situation from flaring up, there is no trace of Manoranjan who has gone missing after the incident. In his FIR, Gangadhar Meher, brother of Manoranjan, said samiti members Gopal Meher and Biswanbar Meher came to the village at around 6 pm on Sunday in two vehicles to conduct a recce.

Two hours later, three masked miscreants alighted from a vehicle and enquired if the house belonged to Manoranjan. On seeing the miscreants, Gangadhar and one of his brother Rajesh approached them. But the miscreants pulled out guns and said they wanted to teach a lesson to those speaking against Minister Singh, the FIR stated. While the terrified brothers ran away, the miscreants opened fire at the house. When villagers came out, they fled the spot. Sources said the number plate of the vehicle used by the miscreants was covered. State BJP Yuva Morcha secretary Irasis Acharya, who is managing the campaign in Bijepur, said the incident was expected as terrorising people has been the modus operandi of Singh.

Neither BJP nor will the people be cowed down by such actions, he said. On the other hand, Minister Singh denied BJD’s role in the incident. He went on to say that Manoranjan had threatened in pubic to eliminate him and he even has a video recording of it. Padampur SDPO LN Panda said the miscreants are yet to be identified. Three police teams have been formed to trace the vehicles used in the crime. Tension has been simmering between both parties since January 5 after BJD denied the BJP a place to hold its workers’ convention. Though BJP finally got a place to hold the meeting, Manoranjan had reportedly threatened in public to eliminate Singh for playing unhealthy politics. Subsequently, both the parties had filed complaints with the police. Such violence was anticipated with the two major parties eyeing to win the Bijepur by-poll necessitated by the death of sitting Congress MLA Subal Sahu on August 22.