The Commissionerate Police on Tuesday arrested one more accused, Sanjeev Mishra of the Jharpada locality, in connection with the high-profile assault on Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation’s Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo.
With his arrest, the total number of individuals taken into custody now stands at four.
This incident, which reportedly occurred during an official grievance hearing, took a serious turn after disturbing video footage of the assault went viral on social media platforms. The footage showed the officer being forcibly dragged and physically attacked by a group allegedly unhappy with civic actions.
The four accused arrested so far include:
- Aparupa Narayan Rout
- Rashmi Ranjan Mahapatra
- Debashis Pradhan
- Sanjeev Mishra
In response to public outcry and growing media coverage, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has suspended all four individuals from the party’s primary membership. Party state president Manmohan Samal issued the suspension orders late Monday evening.
This incident has drawn sharp criticism from across political circles, with opposition parties demanding stricter action and a formal investigation into the lapse in administrative security.
