GP staff detained for disrespecting flag

Bhubaneswar: An employee of the Odisha government was detained at Konark police station in Puri district on Thursday after a video of him using a national flag to clean furniture of his office went viral on social media. The police registered a case against Prasant Kumar Swain, a panchayat extension officer (PEO) at Simili gram panchayat, under section 2 of Prevention of Insult to National Honour Act, 1971 following a complaint lodged by Minati Sahu, a Panchayat samiti member.
Insulting the national flag invites imprisonment up to three years.
“We took serious note of the incident involving disrespect to the tricolour. A case has been registered against the PEO. He is being questioned,” Puri SP, Kanwar Vishal Singh told TOI.
Police sources said the incident occurred at Simili gram panchayat office under Konark police area in October last year. “A meeting was scheduled to be held in the Panchayat office. Just before the start of the meeting, the PEO found dust on the chairs and tables. He brought the national flag from the panchayat office and started wiping the furniture with it. A ward member had shot the video,” a police official said.
Resentment grew among people in the area after the video went viral on social media early on Thursday. After being pulled by locals, Swain apologised with folded hands in the afternoon. “I am ashamed of my conduct. I should not have insulted the national flag. I beg apology before every Indian,” Swain said. In August last year, the Jharsuguda district police arrested a meat shop owner for allegedly dishonouring the tricolour. The accused kept the severed head of a goat on the national flag.