Heckling of scribe by police raised in Odisha House

Odisha Assembly witnessed several adjournments Thursday over the alleged heckling of a journalist by Kendrapara superintendent of police during Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's visit to the district.

Kendrapara police superintendent Niti Sekhar had allegedly attempted to slap a journalist of a news channel who had gone to cover the visit of Patnaik in the district on Wednesday to campaign for the Patkura assembly election, which has become a prestige issue for the ruling BJD.

The incident came to the fore after a purported video showing the SP pulling the collar of the scribe's shirt with one hand and raising another hand to slap him at Barimula helipad, went viral in the social media.

The issue was raised in the house by the Leader of the Opposition Pradipta Kumar Naik who demanded action against the Kendrapara SP.

Terming the SP's behaviour as "unfortunate", he said this is not the sole incident of its kind in the state.

"Members of the fourth pillar of democracy should not be treated in this manner. Journalists are facing similar situations in different parts of the state," he said.

"We want to know what action the government has taken against the erring SP," Naik said adding officers who do not know how to behave in public should not be given the responsibility of working at big functions.

Coming down heavily on the BJD government, BJP deputy leader in the House, B C Sethi said the scribe was heckled in the presence of two former ministers and the regional party's leaders just a day after the chief minister assured the Assembly that the government was "fully committed" to protect life and property of all citizens and ensure maintenance of law and order.

Only Maharashtra has enacted a Journalist Protection Act, Sethi said and demanded strong action against the Kendrapara SP.

He also demanded a ruling from the Speaker S N Patro on the matter.

Congress member Taraprasad Bahinipati demanded arrest and suspension of Niti Sekhar and dubbed the governance in Odisha as "Naveen tantra or police tantra but not gana tantra (democracy)."