Two Odisha government officials have accused Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu of assaulting them with a chair in his office in Mayurbhanj district, a charge that the BJP MP has categorically denied.
Two Odisha government officials have accused Union Minister Bishweswar Tudu of assaulting them with a chair in his office in Mayurbhanj district, a charge that the BJP MP has categorically denied.
Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Bishweswar Tudu represents the Mayurbhanj constituency in Lok Sabha. He was inducted as MoS into the Modi cabinet in July last year.
According to District Planning and Monitoring Unit deputy director Ashwini Kumar Mallick and assistant director Debashish Mohapatra, the minister had called the two to the BJP party office in his hometown of Baripada for a review meeting on Friday.
During the review meeting, Tudu got infuriated with them for not bringing certain files along. After locking the office door from inside, the minister allegedly thrashed both officers and also assaulted them with a chair.
Following the alleged assault, Debasish Mohapatra’s hand was fractured, while Aswini Mallick sustained severe injuries. Both officials were admitted to PRM Medical College and Hospital in Baripada.
Based on a complaint filed by the two government officials, a case has been lodged against MoS Bishweswar Tudu at Baripada Town Police Station under Sections 323, 325, 294 and 506 of the IPC, a senior police officer told India Today.
One of the injured officials, Debasis Mohapatra, told India Today, “The minister first upbraided us stating that we violated protocols. We tried to convince him that it would have been improper if we visited his office along with files at a time when the Model Code of Conduct is in place in the state due to the upcoming panchayat polls. But he got angry and started hitting us.”
The other officer, Ashwini Kumar Mallick, said, “When we both met the minister at the latter’s party office, he lost his cool because we had forgotten to bring the MPLADS file. He started fuming and abused us, and then started hitting us with a plastic chair. We somehow managed to escape.”
Meanwhile, MoS Bishweswar Tudu has dismissed the allegations against him as an attempt to malign his image ahead of the panchayat polls. The allegations are false and baseless, he said.
“They [Mallick and Mohapatra] and came to me. We sat down and held discussions for nearly half an hour. I asked them to bring with them the files on how Rs 7 crore given by the central government was spent. Now they are making wild allegations. If I had thrashed them, would they be able to return [from my office] ,” said Tudu.
