Woman cop, BJP leader in ugly spat during Sambalpur protest
- Sambalpur/Bhubaneswar: A protest by the BJP against 'worsening' law and order situation in the state turned ugly on Wednesday with leader of opposition (LOP) Jaynarayan Mishra and a woman police officer getting embroiled in a spat with video footage showing both pushing and shoving each other. The incident rai- sed a storm with the BJD demanding an apology from Jaynarayan and sought his removal from the post of leader of opposition.
- Anita Pradhan, inspector in-charge of Dhanupali police station in Sambalpur city. accused Jaynarayan, a four- time Sambalpur MLA and former minister, of slapping her and outraging her modesty. Denying the charges, the legislator said the officer pushed him when he was trytion against agitating wo- men workers of his party The inspector and the BJP women's wing have filed separate complaints.
- Anita said she was on du- ty in front of district collector's office when BJP workers led by Jainarayan star- ted protesting. Police stop- ped women workers who were trying to barge in. Anita claimed that the MLA came when the agitation was nearing its end and started abusing her in filthy language.
- " To my utter surprise, he touched my body, pushed me and slapped me on my right cheek in the presence of people, the media and other police personnel present there. Being a woman police officer, I felt humiliated," the inspector wrote in her complaint.
- Samalpur BJP womans wing president Annapurna Barik, in a complaint, alleged that Anita had pushed Mishra when he tried to stop police high-handedness.