Odia film director under cop scanner

Bhubaneswar: Famous Ollywood director Dilip Panda has landed in trouble after a CCTV footage featuring his alleged unruly conduct in a restaurant in Kharavel Nagar here on Sunday went viral on social media on Tuesday. The restaurant owner, Sitanshu Mishra, lodged a complaint against Panda in Kharavel Nagar police station on Tuesday.
While police are verifying the charges and examining the CCTV footage, Mishra demanded an appropriate legal action against Panda. Mishra alleged that Panda along with three others arrived at his restaurant after it had shut around 10.30 pm.
“Dilip Panda entered my restaurant in an inebriated state. He ordered food. My staff politely said the restaurant is closed as it was 10.30 pm. Panda flew into a rage and started threatening my staff by brandishing a knife. Panda also thrashed my staff,” Mishra told media persons.
Mishra’s cook, Maheswar Mohanty alleged that the Ollywood director heckled him and threatened him of dire consequences if he did not prepare food for him. “He shouted at me and picked up a knife from our hotel. He threatened to stab me. They left the restaurant after creating nuisance for several minutes,” Mohanty said.
Panda dismissed the allegations. “I was not drunk. I am a regular visitor to the restaurant. On Sunday night (around 10.30 pm), I and three of my friends visited the restaurant and asked for food. The hotel staff asked whether we would have chicken biryani. In view of bird flu, I requested him to serve some other dish,” Panda said. The director alleged that the restaurant staff misbehaved with him. The staff hurled abuses at me and asked me to leave the hotel. “I picked up the hotel’s knife to help the cook chop onions and not to stab him,” said Panda.