Bhubaneswar: BJD Supremo, Naveen Patnaik today wrote a letter to Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai for immediate release of PRI members detained by Chhattisgarh police.
In his letter, Shri Patnaik said that Panchayat Raj representatives like Sarpanches and Panchayat Samiti Members of Kirimira block in Jharsuguda district were detained by Chhattisgarh police in Sareipali police station in Mahasamund district. Many of those detained are women PRI members.
They were supposed to participate in a no confidence motion this morning in the block premises at 10.30 AM, he said.
“They could not attend the same as they were detained from yesterday midnight along with Vishal Das son of a former cabinet minister in Odisha,” he pointed out.
The Leader of Opposition urged Shri Sai to look into the matter and get them released immediately and also to ensure their safety and security while they travel to the Odisha border.
According to sources, the Chattisgarh police detained Vishal Das and the PRI members around 2 am. The incident came to lime light after a social media video surfaced showing Vishal requesting assistance from the Odisha government and DGP for his release from police custody.
In the footage, Vishal stated that he and several Panchayat Samiti members from Jharsuguda district were wrongfully held by police in the neighbouring State around 2 am. He claimed his detention was connected to a no-confidence vote against the Kirmira block chairperson in Jharsuguda scheduled for Friday morning.
BJD leader and Vishal’s sister Dipali challenged the police actions. She criticised both the hotel search and her brother’s unwarranted detention by Chhattisgarh police before the no-confidence motion against the Kirmira block chairman. It indicates that the BJP is scared of their defeat in the no-confidence vote. Democracy is being killed in the process, she alleged.
Reacting to BJD’s allegation, BJP leader Biranchi Narayan Tripathy said the Chhattisgarh police would explain their reasons for detaining Vishal.
“Our party is not involved in the matter. The allegations of the BJD leaders are false and baseless as they are yet to recover from the loss in the 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha elections,” he said.