During the hearing of a complaint on Monday, a senior on-duty officer of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) allegedly dragged and attacked a group of men.
The incident took place in the BMC office premises when the officer, Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahu, was holding a complaint redressal meeting in his chamber.
According to police complaint, Sahu filed, six-seven unidentified persons entered his cells and aggressively asked if he had spoken to Jagannath Pradhan, a BJP leader from Bhubaneswar. Sahu said that he replied that he had a telephonic conversation with Pradhan in the first day.
The group then allegedly started attacking without any provocation and demanded that he apologize to the Pradhan. Why did they want to apologize.
“They defeat me in a full public scene in the presence of public representatives, in the presence of BMC, BMC officers, employees and citizens, in the presence of corporators, in full public view. When I was trying to mold myself and begged for mercy, they threatened me and tried to come in a vehicle, saying that I ask for Jagannath Pradehan and Mafi.”
The attackers allegedly snatched their mobile phones and uploaded condemnable material as their WhatsApp position, he said.
The incident has expressed displeasure, BMC officials have staged a protest against a major road blocking outside the BMC office. He demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants. After the incident, there was heavy police deployment inside the BMC campus.
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Police sources said that they have registered a case and arrested three persons including BMC Corporator Jane Rout in connection with the attack. Police said they were investigating the participation of other persons.
Pradhan described the incident as unfortunate and said that he knew two people allegedly involved in the attack. He also said that the BJP government will not mold anyone and will take action against all those involved in the attack.
The issue has also triggered a political line, in which the Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik called the attack “frightening”. He demanded “immediate and exemplary” action in the case.
I am completely surprised to see this video.
Today, Mr. Ratnakar Sahu, OAS Additional Commissioner, a senior officer of rank of BMC, Additional Secretary was dragged from his office and was brutally kicked and attacked in front of a BJP corporator, allegedly connected to a defeated … pic.twitter.com/yf7m3dlt9c
– Naveen Patnaik (@naveen_odisha) June 30, 2025
“If a senior officer is not safe in his office, will the common citizens expect law and order from the government?” Patnaik asked X in a post.
Demanding immediate action to restore confidence in his government, Patnaik said that the government should not allow the heinous acts to unpass down. “#Odisha people will not forgive it,” he said.
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