BJD MLA forces engineer to do crunches, held

BHUBANESWAR/BALANGIR: On the eve of Odisha's budget session, police on Monday arrested BJD MLA from Patnagarh, Saroj Meher, for allegedly forcing junior engineer Jayakant Sabar to do crunches in public while inspecting roadworks at Ghaghurli in Balangir district.
Meher - a first-time MLA, who was on the run for the past 19 days - was produced in the additional district judge's court in Patnagarh. He filed his bail petition himself as lawyers in the area are on a strike. The court said it would hear the bail plea on July 1 and sent Meher to judicial custody.
Sabar's wife had lodged a complaint against the MLA a day after the incident. On June 5, Meher had gone on an inspection of ongoing roadworks. He had been accompanied by executive engineer Lokanath Mishra and engineer Sabar. The MLA found the quality of the work substandard and forced Sabar to do crunches.