Bhubaneswar, Dec 12: Peeved over the police allegedly barging into the party office here and assaulting NSUI workers, senior Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati Sunday said he would resign as an MLA if the force could provide proof that activists of the students’ wing had hurled stones at security personnel during an agitation. The Congress MLA was reacting to the charges levelled by the Twin City Police Commisioner S K Priyadarshi that activists of the grand old party hurled stones at the police on Friday. The NSUI had staged a demonstration along the city’s Mahatma Gandhi Marg demanding the resignation of Minister of State for Home DS Mishra for his alleged links with the prime accused in the Kalahandi woman teacher’s kidnap-murder case. Strongly condemning the police excess, Bahinipati said, Rather, police personnel hurled stones at our activists and the Congress Bhawan”.
However, Bahinipati, who is also a former policeman, admitted that the NSUI activists hurled eggs and tomatoes at the security personnel while marching towards the Assembly building on Friday. Claiming that no one sustains injury if eggs or tomatoes are hurled, he said, throwing eggs at someone is therefore not a crime during an agitation. The activists hurled tomatoes and eggs, but not stones. Will the Police Commissioner resign from service if the allegation is not proved? he asked. The Congress leader demanded that the incident be investigated either by a magistrate or a High Court judge.
I will lead party activists and gherao the Commissionerate Police office if no action is taken against the erring police personnel, said Bahinipati. Meanwhile, OPCC president Niranjan Patnaik and CLP leader Narasingha Mishra have demanded a judicial inquiry into the police action on the NSUI activists and subsequent police entry into the Congress Bhavan. They demanded an unconditional apology from the law enforcers and stringent action against the erring policemen involved in the attack.
The police on Friday had resorted to lathi-charge on the students’ wing members of Congress who were demanding the minister’s dismissal. While the police have claimed that they were forced to resort to lathi-charge as the activists hurled stones at them, the Congress leaders claimed otherwise. As many as 10 NSUI activists were beaten by the police and one of them suffered a grievous injury on the head, the party leaders claimed. Several others fractured their legs and hands in police action, they alleged. The law enforcers even chased the protestors and beat them mercilessly by forcibly entering the Congress Bhavan, they further alleged.
The police was instructed by the MoS, Home, to assault the protesters for demanding his resignation, the Congress MLA said.
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