Odisha law minister, 13 others booked for murder of BJP leader, aide

CUTTACK: Leaders of the Cuttack district unit of BJP on Monday hit the street protesting the brutal murder of BJP leader and former Mahanga block chairman Kulamani Baral over political rivalry.

The BJP leaders staged a protest meeting at Badambadi square where they came down heavily on Law Minister Pratap Jena for resorting to violence in politics while condemning the brutal murder of Baral and his associate. 

The party also staged protest meetings in front of all the block headquarters in Cuttack district demanding the immediate removal of Jena from the ministry and arrest of the culprits. 

Meanwhile, Mahanga police registered an FIR against 14 persons including the minister, former Mahanga block chairman Bhikari Swain and Prafulla Kumar Biswal, husband of sarpanch of Nrutanga gram panchayat.

“It is a matter of utmost regret that the family members of the deceased Baral have mentioned Law Minister’s name in the FIR accusing him of shielding the accused persons while alleging that the fatal attack on Baral and his associate was carried out at his behest,” president of city unit of BJP Lalatendu Badu said. Badu demanded immediate arrest of the accused persons involved in the gruesome double murder.

Shouting slogans against Jena, the BJP leaders also demanded his immediate dismissal from the ministry and his arrest on the basis of the FIR. Jena, however, refuted the allegation brought against him and said the opposition parties are trying to term the incident as a fallout of political violence. 

“FIR has been filed against me and everything will come to the fore during the inquiry. The effort is on from my side for immediate arrest of the culprits," he said, and added that stringent action will be taken against the assailants.

In the meantime, the deceased BJP leader's son Ramakant Baral has demanded verification of call records of Jena’s personal assistant Bapi Biswal. “If the call records of Bapi Biswal are verified, the involvement of Jena would be cleared,” he said.