Opposition seeks action against IPS officer for manhandling scribe in Odisha

The Odisha Assembly on Thursday witnessed pandemonium as opposition members of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress demanded action against Kendrapara Superintendent of Police (SP) Niti Sekhar for allegedly misbehaving and manhandling a working journalist during the visit of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to the district.

The House was adjourned several times over the alleged manhandling of the journalist by the Kendrapara SP during the visit of the Chief Minister for campaigning in the Patkura Assembly segment on Wednesday.

Raising the issue in the Zero Hour, Leader of Opposition Pradipta Kumar Nayak said the Kendrapara SP's behaviour was an insult to the fourth pillar of democracy and demanded that the SP should be transferred or suspended.

Congress MLA Tara Prasad Bahinipati condemned the incident and demanded action against the IPS officer.

Both the parties also demanded a ruling from the Speaker over the issue.

A journalist of a private television channel was on Wednesday allegedly manhandled by the Kendrapara SP when the former attempted to go near the Chief Minister's chopper in Patkura, which will go to the polls on July 20.

The video of the alleged incident has gone viral on social media. The SP has already tendered an apology for the incident. IANS