Police register case against BJD MLA for forcing junior engineer to do sit-ups

The Odisha Police Friday registered a case against BJD MLA Saroj Kumar Meher accused of forcing a PWD junior engineer to do sit-ups in public.

Meher, who drew flak after a video purportedly showing him forcing a PWD junior engineer to do sit-ups in public went viral, Thursday apologised for his action, while claiming that he did it to assuage public anger.

Later on Thursday, the engineer's wife lodged a police complaint against the newly elected Patnagarh MLA, accusing him of publicly humiliating her husband after calling him from his house on Wednesday.

Sub-Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) of Patnagarh Suresh Nayak told PTI, "We have registered a case against the MLA at Patnagarh police station after proper verification. The case has been registered under different sections of the IPC and SC, ST Atrocity Act."
Asked about the allegation of kidnapping of the junior engineer, the SDPO said, "We have traced him and handed him over to his family. He was located at a place between Kantabanji and Khariar. He had gone there with friends and was not kidnapped as alleged by the wife."