BJD MLA arrested for forcing engineer to do sit-ups

Odisha Police on Monday arrested newly elected BJD MLA Saroj Kumar Meher for allegedly forcing a junior engineer from a tribal community to do sit-ups in public.

The incident came to light in the beginning of the month when a purported video went viral showing the MLA asking the PWD engineer to do sit-ups in public.

The incident took place in Patnagarh assembly segment on June 5.

After statewide furore, Bolangir Collector Arindam Dakua had ordered an enquiry by the sub-collector to verify the allegations.

The enquiry report stated that due to sub-standard road construction work, the Patnagarh MLA "punished" Jayakanta Sabar in public and also asked the engineer-in-charge to slap him.

Meher was booked under different sections of the IPC based on the FIR filed by the engineer's wife.

Earlier in the day, the police picked up the MLA from a hotel in Nuapada and brought him to Bolangir for questioning.

Meher will be produced at the court of the Additional District Judge, Bolangir, police said.

The MLA had apologised for his action, contending that he was compelled to ask the engineer to do sit-ups to assuage public anger.