Bhubaneswar, August 14: Former Chief Minister and Leader of the opposition (LOP), Naveen Patnaik, appealed to all the citizens to maintain peace and harmony in the state where allegations of atrocities surfaced against certain sections of the people.
In an X post, the former CM said Odisha is a state where communal harmony and peace existed for ages.
“Many groups and aggrieved citizens have met me and expressed their concerns. It is sad that they are being victims of attacks and discrimination,” Patnaik, who is also the BJD president, said in the post.
“But it is a matter of concern that now there are reports of social unrest in different parts of the state,” he said.
While appealing to all the communities to protect the image and dignity of Odisha, Patnaik suggested that everyone should work towards maintaining law and order, the security of people’s property and life..
The former five-time chief minister also urged the government and officials to take all possible steps to protect the people from all walks of life.
Notably, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Sunday requested her Odisha counterpart Mohan Charan Majhi to look into alleged incidents of assault on laborers from the state there.
Meanwhile, Odisha’s Additional Director General (ADG) (Law and Order), Sanjay Kumar admitted that a stray case in this regard had come to the fore.
“Two days ago there was an incident in which some people were seen asking members of a particular group to show their identity cards to see whether they migrated from Bangladesh. It was unwarranted,” Kumar said.
Claiming that there was no major incident across the state following the political turmoil in Bangladesh, Kumar said nobody is allowed to take the law into hands.
“Though it was apprehended that some Bangladeshi infiltrators may sneak into Odisha through the sea route, there was no such incident. Our sea coast was on high alert,” he said.
Referring to the recent tension in Bhadrak where some people of a particular group were detained and asked to prove their credentials, the ADG said police intervened and resolved the matter.The police are on high alert and taking precautions for the upcoming Independence Day, he said.
