Kendrapara: Tikhiri Sarpanch Chameli Ojha on Wednesday began an indefinite dharna along with her supporters in front of the office of the Superintendent of Police (SP) in Kendrapara, demanding the arrest of all those allegedly involved in an attack on her earlier this month.
Ojha said she would continue the mass protest until all the accused named in the case are arrested and action is taken on her other demands.
The protest comes in connection with an alleged attack on the sarpanch on June 11. According to Ojha, seven key accused in the case are yet to be arrested despite the passage of nearly two weeks since the incident.
She stated that she had submitted a written complaint to the Director General of Police (DGP) on June 17, informing him about the alleged inaction in the case and warning that she would resort to a mass dharna if her demands were not addressed.
“Even seven days after submitting the complaint, neither has the police administration contacted me nor have the accused been arrested,” Ojha said while addressing supporters at the protest site.
Earlier in the day, the sarpanch, accompanied by a large number of supporters, reached the SP office and sat on the pre-designated dharna site.
In a memorandum submitted to the SP, Ojha demanded the immediate arrest of the accused, including Prashant Sethi, Harish Lenka, Krishnapad Mandal, Chandrakant Swain, Manas Mohanty and Rohit Rout. She also sought registration of a case against the Mahakalapara Block Development Officer (BDO) and against police personnel whom she accused of assaulting her.
The protest was continuing at the time of filing this report.
