The Hindu : Orissa suspends policemen

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 18, 2002

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Orissa suspends policemen
By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, MARCH 17. The Orissa Government today placed a number of police personnel under suspension for negligence in duty following the attack on the Assembly on Saturday. Around 500 activists of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, the Bajrang Dal and the Durga Vahini had stormed the Assembly building and indulged in vandalism.

Addressing presspersons after his return from New Delhi today, the Chief Minister, Naveen Patnaik, said, ``Some policemen, including two Deputy Superintendents of Police, have been suspended and action is likely against more officials.'' Although he did not announce their number, reliable sources said that 18 policemen had been placed under suspension.

Mr. Patnaik, who met the Chief Secretary, D.P. Bagchi, the DGP, N.C. Padhi, and several of his Cabinet colleagues soon after his arrival, went round the Assembly premises to inspect the damage.

``Such a dastardly act should be condemned strongly and stern action should be taken against the culprits who indulged in this shocking incident,'' Mr. Patnaik said. ``There is more to it than meets the eye,'' he said, hinting that the attack was pre-planned and that it had the complicity of some of his detractors.

Incidentally, the BJP Legislature Party was inside the building when the mob went on the rampage. The State BJP president, Manmohan Samal, the Union Tribal Affairs Minister, Juel Oram, and party MLAs were taking part in the meeting to discuss the coming Rajya Sabha polls.

Asked whether the incident would sour the relationship between the Biju Janata Dal and the BJP, Mr. Patnaik said it was too early to pass judgment. On the demand for a judicial probe into the incident, he said the matter was being investigated and any further action would be announced by him in the Assembly on Monday. The Crime Branch of the State police is investigating the case.

As announced by the Assembly Speaker, Sarat Kumar Kar, on Saturday, the Chief Minister will make a statement in the House on Monday. The issue would also be discussed in the form of an adjournment motion.

Meanwhile, the 67 persons arrested for the attack were remanded to judicial custody by a local court. Those arrested include the State VHP president, Bipin Bihari Rath, the State Bajrang Dal chief, Bhuban Mohan Jena, and nine women. They have been booked on charges of rioting, arson, trespass, assault and damage to government property, according to the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Sushil Pradhan.

VHP condemns attack

PTI reports from New Delhi:

The VHP regretted the storming of the Assembly by its activists but sought to defend them, saying ``pseudo-secular policies'' of people working in the political field have made the country's youth ``restive''.

``We regret yesterday's incident at the Orissa Assembly. We do not approve any attack on our democratic institutions,'' the VHP spokesman, Veereshwar Dwivedi, said.

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