BJD candidate’s men attack EC officials during raid in Pipili

Bhubaneswar: A Biju Janata Dal MLA and his supporters allegedly attacked a team of Election Commission officials while conducting a raid on his farmhouse in Odisha’s Puri district on Sunday.

Five members, including a magistrate, were seriously injured in an alleged attack by the sitting BJD MLA of Pipili Pradeep Maharathy and his supporters inside his farmhouse at Hunkeipur in Pipili.

The injured, including the magistrate Rabi Narayan Patra, have been admitted to the Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. The condition of Patra and three others are stated to be critical.

“Statement of the victims has been recorded and a person has been detained in this connection. On the basis of FIR lodged by the injured ones, a case has been registered and investigation is underway,” said Puri Collector Jyotiprakash Das.