Baripada/Bhubaneswar: Baripada Town Police Friday registered an FIR against local MP and Union Minister for Tribal Affairs and Jal Shakti Biseswar Tudu for allegedly assaulting two government officials.
Union Minister Tudu has been charged under sections 323,325, 341, 294, and 506 of the IPC by the police on the basis of a written complaint lodged by one Aswini Kumar Mallick, In-Charge Deputy Director Planning, Mayurbhanj.
As per the FIR, Mallick has alleged that on Thursday (Jan 20) at around 12.30 PM he was informed by his Assistant Director Debasis Mohapatra that Biseswar Tudu wanted to meet them at his party office at Takatpur to discuss the MPLAD fund.
Mallick has stated that he told Mohapatra as the model code of conduct is in force it is not possible to visit the party office and rather Tudu may come to the planning office or to the Circuit House and asked Mohapatra to collect Tudu’s PA’s contact number.
On Thursday (Jan 20) Mallick has claimed that he called up Tudu’s PA at 9.40 PM and told him that as the code of conduct is continuing it is not possible to visit Tudu’s office.
At 10.45 AM the next day (Jan 21) Tudu’s PA called Mallick and told him to meet Tudu at Bazar India to which the latter replied that Bazar India is a public place and shopping mall and suggested that it is better to meet either at the Planning Office or Circuit House at Baripada.
Mallick has said in the FIR that Tudu called him at 12.04 PM on Friday (Jan 21) and asked him to meet him urgently.
Mallick has claimed that after 20 minutes, he again got a call from Delhi from Tudu’s PA to meet Tudu at Takatpur to which he replied by giving the same answer but again Tudu’s PA called him at 12.53 PM asking him to meet Tudu at his Takatpur party office.
Mallick has stated in the FIR that he and his Assistant Director Mohapatra visited Tudu’s office around 1.15 PM and waited for 15 minutes.
Mallick has alleged that after 15 minutes Tudu came and abused them using filthy (obscene) language and threatened them with dire consequences.
He has further alleged that Tudu asked one of his party workers to close down the shutter of his office and after that Tudu assaulted them with a plastic chair as a result of which Mohapatra sustained fracture injury on his left hand and he sustained an injury on his finger.
Both have got treated at the PRM Medical College & Hospital (PRMMC&H).
Earlier on Friday evening, Tudu had refuted the allegations made against him by the two government officials.
Tudu had termed the accusations as ‘totally false’. He had said that such accusations were made to defame him and divert public attention when elections are near.
Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Niranjan Patnaik has condemned Tudu’s act and has questioned how political parties are giving tickets to such persons to contest elections.
“If this is true then it is dangerous. If he has actually beaten up officers then it is a serious matter, ” said senior Congress leader Suresh Routray.
