Uma Samantaray

BJD MLA Uma Samantaray booked for flouting Covid-19 guidelines


Bhubaneswar: A case has been registered against Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Uma Samantaray for attending party’s Pipili MLA Pradeep Maharathy’s funeral at Swargadwar in Puri last week despite having been tested positive for Covid-19 a couple of days earlier.

The Sea Beach Police in Puri registered the case on Friday against Samantaray under sections 269/270 of IPC and 3 of Epidemic Diseases Act.

The case was registered following a complaint lodged by the Jagannath Sena, a local outfit in Puri, at the Sea Beach Police Station against School & Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Dash and BJD MLA Uma Samantaray.

However, no case was registered against Dash for breaching COVID-19 rules.

Dash had clarified that he had tested positive for Covid-19 on September 14 and attended the last rites of Maharathy as he had completed 21 days of quarantine period.