Cuttack: Reacting to the recent Balianta lynching incident, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari on Friday said taking the law into one’s own hands is unacceptable and stressed that the government will uphold “Rajadharma” in governance.
Speaking to reporters here, Pujari said criminals should not be allowed to flourish and added that greater vigilance is needed to prevent criminal tendencies in society.
“Taking the law into one’s own hands is not right. Those in the government must uphold Rajadharma in their work. Criminals should not be allowed to thrive. We need to be even more vigilant to prevent criminal tendencies,” the minister said.
He further stated that the government has already taken successful action against criminals, but emphasized that public awareness is necessary to ensure incidents of mob justice do not recur.
Pujari said fear of law must prevail among criminals and underlined the need to strengthen the police force to effectively curb crime.
“To reduce crime, the number of personnel in the police department must be increased. Our state has a lower police force compared to other states,” he said.
The minister also said the opposition has every right to criticize the government over the incident and added that the ruling dispensation has accepted such criticism constructively.
“The opposition has the right to criticize on this issue, and we have accepted their criticism. Let the opposition fulfill their duty. The government will fulfill its responsibilities,” he added.
The Balianta incident has triggered widespread debate in Odisha over law and order and incidents of mob violence.
