Bhubaneswar: Activists of Congress students' wing NSUI barged into the compound of Odisha minister Tusharkanti Behera's official residence here and pelted the house with eggs during a protest over the death of a zilla parishad member. The minister of state for home was not present at the house during the incident.
The march staged by the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) was stopped short of Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik's residence as police set up barricades and detained the agitators at various locations. Shouting slogans, the protesters jostled with the police as they tried to break the barricades. During the march, some of the protesters barged into the premises of Behera's residence, which is on the way to that of Patnaik, and pelted the house with eggs.
There was thin police deployment at Behera's residence, which is around 2.5 km from the chief minister's house. The Congress was demanding a proper investigation into the death of Dharmendra Sahoo, BJD zilla parishad member of Nimapara in Puri district. BJP had on September 27 blocked the arterial Nimapara-Pipili Road, alleging that Sahoo was "murdered" for political reasons. Sahoo (48) was found hanging at his home in Sisupalgarh on September 24. His post-mortem report suggested that he died of asphyxia. Ahead of his death, Sahoo had posted a message on social media, asking the police to examine the contents of his phone.
His phone was found a few metres away from his home in a field. Both Congress and BJP demanded the resignation of School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash, who is also the local MLA, alleging he had a role to play in the incident. Even as allegations went rife that Dash had been creating disturbances in Sahoo's personal life, the minister expressed grief over the death but said he was not aware of any controversy.
"Why should I react over opposition allegations? These are all politically-motivated to tarnish my image in public. Sahoo's family members have not made any allegation against me or anyone. Therefore, I do not think that I should respond to opposition allegation," he had said earlier.
