OAS association demands BDO attackers be arrested

Demanding arrest of the persons responsible for the attack on Block Development Officer (BDO), Marsaghai in Kendrapara district, the Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) Association today threatened to boycott the poll duty including the May 16 counting of votes.
"We have given an ultimatum of 48 hours for arrest of the culprits involved in the attack on Marsaghai BDO S K Pati. If no action is taken within the time, we may boycott poll duties," said OAS Association secretary Jyoti Ranjan Mishra after a delegation submitted a memorandum to Mona Sharma, Chief Electoral Officer.
Pati was yesterday physically assaulted by a mob at Kendrapara town after opposition parties found parking of a vehicle loaded with EVMs near his official residence.

Suspecting that the EVMs were being taken to Pati's residence for tampering, the mob attacked him and his family members besides ransacking his official residence.
The OAS officers association, on the other hand claimed that the officer had no fault as he did not take any used EVMs. The EVMs seized from near Pati's house were unused and reserved for replacement if required during the polling, they said.
Pati's wife has lodged a complaint at Kendrapara police station alleging that the mob attacked her and her husband yesterday without any provocation.
The tension mounted in the district headquarters town of Kendrapara over the incident forcing the local administration to clamp prohibitory order under section 144 of CrPC. "The district magistrate of Kendrapara has already recommended action against the BDO concerned as he took the EVMs to near his house instead of storing them in the strong room," a senior revenue department official said.

Police sources said that no one was so far arrested in connection with the attack on the BDO, who is also an OAS officer.