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Bhawanipatna: Police have filed a petition in the JMFC court in Madanpur Rampur seeking an arrest warrant against Durga Prasad Mohanty, husband of BJD MLA Manorama Mohanty and chairman of Narla block in Kalahandi district, in connection with a case involving alleged death threats to local tehsildar and obstruction in government work. According to police, a case was registered against Mohanty following allegations that he interfered in official duties and threatened the Narla tehsildar over phone. The complaint was filed by Tehsildar Bibhu Prasad Singh. Police visited the MLA's government residence in Bhubaneswar Sunday to serve a notice to Mohanty, but could not locate him. Subsequently, Kalahandi police filed an application in the JMFC court seeking the issuance of a warrant against Mohanty. Police said Mohanty is facing four cases, including the present one related to threats to the tehsildar. Chargesheets have already been filed in three of these cases. Despite efforts over the past week, police have been unable to trace Mohanty. With the warrant plea now filed in court, his legal troubles are expected to intensify. As per the complaint, Mohanty had allegedly been interfering in various government works and creating obstacles. When the tehsildar objected, Mohanty allegedly threatened to kill him over a phone call. The tehsildar, in his complaint, stated that such conduct by an elected representative raises serious concerns about the safety of government officials. A case (72/26) was registered at Narla police station March 15. Police have launched an investigation under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 296, 221, 224, 351(2) and 351(3).
Bhubaneswar: The Winter Session of the Odisha Legislative Assembly on Tuesday witnessed intense discussions on Tuesday over delays in drinking water projects, with senior BJD MLA Badri Narayan Patra making a striking admission. During the Question Hour, Patra attributed the party's setbacks in the 2024 Assembly elections to voter dissatisfaction stemming from unfulfilled promises regarding drinking water infrastructure. "I have personally experienced voters' anger over the non-completion of promised projects before the elections. Candidates who narrowly lost felt the brunt of this frustration ...Read More >
BJP member Manas Dutta blamed the previous BJD government and held it responsible for not extending their service agreement which ended in April, 2024. As hundreds of women working as support staff under the Mission Shakti department staged a demonstration outside the Assembly over different issues, the opposition BJD on Monday demanded immediate release of their salaries. While the agitating women were shouting slogans at the Mahatma Gandhi Road leading to the Assembly, the issue was raised in ...Read More >

Guwahati, Jun 5 (PTI) The Assam Congress on Thursday demanded a CBI inquiry into alleged illegal stone mining in Karbi Anglong district in violation of a Supreme Court order. Addressing a press conference here, former Rajya Sabha member Ripun Bora also alleged that Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Chief Executive Member Tuliram Ronghang was allowing illegal activities in the district in nexus with Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. "Large-scale illegal stone mining is taking place in the hills of Karbi Anglong in violation of the Supreme Court order. The SC had banned mining in and around K ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar, Jul 4 (PTI) A case was registered against BJP MLA Santosh Khatua in Bhubaneswar after BJD leader Lekha Samantasinghar lodged a police complaint, alleging that he made derogatory remarks against her. Khatua, the MLA of Nilgiri in Balasore district, was booked under BNS sections 75(2) that deals with sexual harassment, 79 (offensive words, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 296 (obscene act/ song in public place) and 356 (defamation), police said. The case was registered at the Mahila Police Station where the complaint was lodged, DCP Jagmohan Meena said. ...Read More >

BHUBANESWAR: Days after the obscene remarks of Nilagiri MLA Santosh Khatua against senior BJD leader Lekhashree Samantsinghar sparked widespread outrage, the official stand of the BJP was still not clear on the contentious issue. Neither the state government nor BJP president Manmohan Samal came forward to condemn the uncharitable remarks of the party MLA or hold him to task. None of the ministers and top functionaries of the party including Samal were forthcoming to give the stated position of the government on the issue. The BJP's silence on Khatua's behaviour comes days after assault of a ...Read More >

Nilagiri: Political tension has escalated in Nilagiri following a dispute between BJP MLA Santosh Kumar Khatua and senior BJD leader Lekhasri Samantsinghar. While several police stations across the state have received complaints from the BJD against Khatua demanding his arrest, the matter has taken a new turn with counter-allegations from the BJP side. Two days ago, a BJD woman leader filed a complaint against Khatua at Nilagiri PS. In response, the BJP held a press conference Friday, describing the allegations made by Samantsinghar as baseless and fabricated. Further intensifying the contr ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar: The ruling BJP on Tuesday reappointed Manmohan Samal as its Odisha unit president. Samal's reappointment to the post was announced by BJP's central election observer Sanjay Jaiswal in the presence of senior leaders at the party's State headquarters. He was the lone leader to file the nomination for the post and, therefore, elected unopposed, Jaiswal said. This will be Samal's second consecutive term and fourth term in all. His earlier three terms were from November 1999 to October 2000, October 2000 to May 2004 and March 2023 to July 2025. Congratulating Samal following his re-e ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar, Jul 10 (PTI) Members of the Biju Mahila Janata Dal on Thursday staged a protest here demanding the arrest of BJP MLA Santosh Khatua for allegedly making "derogatory" remarks against senior BJD leader and general secretary Lekhasri Samantsinghar. Led by BJD's chief whip and senior vice-president Pramila Mallik, members of the women's wing of the party took part in a 'Swabhiman' (pride) rally from Rajmahal Square to Master Canteen Square, where they also burnt an effigy of the BJP legislator. Also Read | Gay Dating App Racket in Hyderabad: 65-Year-Old Man Trapped, Filmed and Extor ...Read More >
BHUBANESWAR: Revenue minister Suresh Pujari on Saturday said Odisha would not be allowed to follow the lawless path in sand operations like it is in Bihar and West Bengal, while responding to the recent assault of an additional tehsildar in Kaptipada block, Mayurbhanj district, by the sand mafia. He promised stringent action against the sand mafia regardless of their connections, while speaking to mediapersons here on Saturday. "The Kaptipada incident represents a serious escalation in conflict between law enforcement and the sand mafia. The attack on officers performing their enforcement dut ...Read More >

Srinagar- Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Saturday said foreign countries were told clearly during the post-Operation Sindoor diplomatic outreach that in case of a fresh provocation, India would repeat its action. Speaking at a discussion at the Ahmedabad Management Association, Tharoor said Indian delegations which visited foreign countries in the aftermath of Operation Sindoor managed to convey that India acted with restraint and responsibility. "In other places, we actually were able to get some very high-placed people to say not only that they respected and supported India's right of self- ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar, June 30 (UNI) The Commissionerate Police today arrested three individuals, including a BJP corporator, for assaulting Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahu inside the corporation office. The incident sparked widespread resentment among BMC employees, who, along with several BJD corporators and leaders, staged a road blockade on the busy Bani Vihar-Master Canteen stretch in the evening. The protest brought vehicular movement to a standstill for several hours, causing severe inconvenience to commuters. Police later removed the protesters, i ...Read More >
Kolkata/Bhubaneswar: Trinamool Krishnanagar MP Mahua Moitra tied the knot with former BJD MP Pinaki Misra on May 30 in a quiet ceremony in Berlin. The couple is expected to return to India by the end of June. After photographs of Moitra's wedding went viral on social media, the MP on Thursday evening posted on her X handle, "Thank you everyone for the love and good wishes!! So grateful."News of the wedding, kept under wraps for nearly a week, broke on social media with multiple photographs of the Berlin wedding. According to party sources, Moitra had informed the party leadership about her wed ...Read More >
Berhampur/Bhubaneswar: A state-of-the-art medical college and hospital was inaugurated by chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi in Kandhamal district on Saturday, fulfilling a long-standing demand of locals. The 100-seat medical college and 650-bed hospital, built at a cost of over Rs 600 crore, is located at Tilakpada near Phulbani.Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, CM Majhi emphasised that the facility would provide quality healthcare services to residents of Kandhamal and neighbouring districts like Boudh, Nayagarh and Kalahandi.A govt officer said the medical college hopes to start admissi ...Read More >

New Delhi [India], June 27 (ANI): Bharatiya Janata Party's Jangpura MLA Tarvinder Singh Marwah on Friday wrote a letter to Delhi's Lieutenant Governor Vinai Kumar Saxena and Chief Minister Rekha Gupta, requesting the temporary closure of meat and fish shops along Kanwar Yatra routes during the upcoming holy month of Sawan. In his letter, Marwah highlighted that the Kanwar Yatra is a matter of deep religious faith, during which devotees of Lord Shiva collect sacred water from Haridwar and other holy sites to perform Jalabhishek of Shivlings in their hometowns. He urged the government to maint ...Read More >
Digha: A day after Rath Yatra, the festive fervour continues in Digha as the seaside town is now gearing up to host Ulta Rath or the return journey of the deities from the 'Masir Bari' or the old Jagannath temple. On July 5 -- the Ulta Rath day -- hotels are hoping for fresh tourist influx. Though the deities are currently in Masir Bari, a large queue of devotees visited the newly-constructed Jagannath temple on Saturday. They offered prayers to the stone idol permanently installed there. It is the wooden idols of Jagannath, Balaram and Subhadra that have taken the chairot rides. Bipradash Cha ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar, Jun 30 (PTI) Senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer and Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) Additional Commissioner Ratnakar Sahoo was allegedly dragged from his office and assaulted by a group of miscreants on Monday, police said. Sahoo has lodged an FIR at Kharvelnagar police station. "An FIR has been registered at the Kharvel Nagar police station by the officer. We have arrested three persons so far," Bhubaneswar DCP Jagmohan Meena told PTI. The police have so far arrested Jeevan Rout, Rashmi Mahapatra and Debashis Pradhan. Further investigation is on. Invo ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], June 30 (ANI): Tensions rose in Bhubaneswar on Monday after the assault on Ratnakar Sahoo, Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation. BMC Mayor Sulochana Das said the officer was dragged out of his office by 5-6 men, assaulted, and an attempt was made to abduct him. She demanded that an attempted murder case be filed and that all the accused be arrested. Speaking to the reporters, Das said, 'Nobody is safe here. A government officer was dragged out of his office by 5-6 men. He was assaulted, and there was an attempt to abduct him. We had t ...Read More >
Kolkata: Monojit Mishra, the main accused in the June 25 law student gang-rape case, before leaving the college after committing the crime had asked a few of his trusted aides to stay back on the campus and keep a watch on Kasba Police Station about a kilometre away through the night. He and co-accused Pramit Mukherjee and Zaib Ahmed left around the same time as the survivor, who was picked up by her father.Senior officers investigating the case also revealed that Monojit had called up a college official the next morning -- this official has claimed the discussion was "confined to college-rela ...Read More >

Balasore (Odisha), Jul 12 (PTI) A woman student of a college in Odisha's Balasore district, who had lodged a sexual harassment complaint against a teacher, on Saturday allegedly set herself on fire on the institute's campus and sustained 90 per cent burn injuries, police said. Another male student, who attempted to save her, also suffered injuries and both were rushed to the district headquarters hospital here. Later, she was referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment. A 12-member doctors' team has been formed to take care of the injured woman student, police said. The incident to ...Read More >

Thiruvananthapuram: Ravada A Chandrasekhar took charge as the new State Police Chief on Tuesday. He succeeds Shaik Darvesh Saheb, who retired on June 30. His tenure will run until July 1, 2027. A 1991-batch IPS officer currently serving as Special Director with the Intelligence Bureau, Chandrasekhar is on central deputation. He was selected over Nitin Agarwal, who topped the official list of probables. The appointment order, issued by Kerala Chief Secretary Dr A Jayathilak on behalf of the Governor, was released soon after a cabinet meeting held on Monday. Hailing from Andhra Pradesh's Godav ...Read More >
Pune: Hospitals in Pune have started reporting an increase in dengue cases among children following recent heavy rainfall and intermittent showers. Conditions are now ripe for mosquito breeding, experts said, as they warned citizens to ensure there's no waterlogging or stagnant pools near homes and offices. "Dengue is typically seen first in children as they often play outside," said Dr Sagar Lad, a senior neonatologist and pediatric intensivist at Jehangir Hospital and Sahyadri Hospital, Shastrinagar. Dr Lad said he's seen at least three children admitted for dengue this week, with all of the ...Read More >

Mumbai: Senior BJP leader Ravindra Chavan is all set to become the next Maharashtra BJP chief as he filed his nomination for the post of party's state president on Monday. Mr. Chavan presented the nomination forms to Union Minister Kiran Rijiju, who has been appointed as a central observer for the elections by the BJP. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and outgoing party chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule were present on this occasion. With no other nomination being filed for the post, Mr. Chavan is certain to become the next state president of Maharashtra BJP, said party leaders. The ...Read More >

New Delhi [India], July 1 (ANI): Bhubaneswar MP and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Aparajita Sarangi condemned the assault of Ratnakar Sahoo, Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, saying that the act does not align with the party's principles. Some miscreants have allegedly assaulted Additional Commissioner of the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC), Ratnakar Sahoo, inside the office of the civic body during a grievance redressal meeting on Monday. Also Read | Rules Changing From July 1, 2025: From LPG Cylinder Prices and Railway Fares to Aadhaar-PAN Link ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar, Jul 3 (PTI) Ruling BJP MLA Santosh Khatua on Thursday courted controversy after allegedly making 'derogatory' remarks against a prominent woman BJD leader, prompting a strong backlash and a demand for an apology from Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi and the saffron party. BJD's senior general secretary and spokesperson Lekhashree Samantasinghar has also drawn the attention of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by tagging a letter in her X post. Khatua, a lawmaker from Nilgiri assembly constituency in Balasore district, in a statement to certain television channels allegedly made "der ...Read More >

Balasore, Jul 12 (PTI) A woman student of a college in Odisha's Balasore district, who had lodged a sexual harassment complaint against a teacher, on Saturday allegedly set herself on fire in the educational institute campus and sustained 90 per cent burn injury, police said. Another male student, who attempted to save her, also sustained injury and both were rushed to the District Headquarters Hospital here. Later, she was referred to AIIMS Bhubaneswar for advanced treatment. A 12-member doctors team has been formed to take care of the injured woman student, police said. The incident took ...Read More >

Bhubaneswar: A case was registered against BJP MLA Santosh Khatua in Bhubaneswar after BJD leader Lekhashree Samantasinghar lodged a police complaint, alleging that he made derogatory remarks against her. Khatua, the MLA of Nilgiri in Balasore district, was booked under BNS sections 75(2) that deals with sexual harassment, 79 (offensive words, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 296 (obscene act/ song in public place) and 356 (defamation), police said. The case was registered at the Mahila Police Station where the complaint was lodged, DCP Jagmohan Meena said. In her co ...Read More >
On July 12, the woman attempted self-immolation on the college campus.Source : Twitter A 22-year-old college student from Odisha, who set herself on fire following alleged inaction over a sexual harassment complaint, succumbed to her injuries late last night. Her death has sparked outrage, protests, and renewed calls for accountability in educational institutions. The student, pursuing a B.Ed degree at Fakir Mohan Autonomous College in Balasore, had accused the Head of the Education Department, ...Read More >
Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has quietly married Pinaki Misra in a private ceremony on May 30. Known for her outspokenness, Moitra's wedding came as a surprise due to the lack of official announcement. Misra, a senior Supreme Court advocate and former BJD MP from Puri, brings his own extensive political background to the union.In a rare moment of quiet amid the high-octane world of Indian politics, Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra has surprised everyone with a low-key wedding. The firebra ...Read More >

MANDYA: Tension gripped Elechakanahalli village in Mandya taluk after Dalits were allegedly denied entry into Maramma temple by upper caste people. As the situation escalated, heavy police deployment was made to prevent any untoward incidents. The controversy began when upper caste villagers reportedly blocked Dalits from entering Maramma temple, leading to clashes between the two communities. Taluk authorities temporarily sealed the temple and enforced tight security in the area. Later, leaders from both communities placed separate locks on the temple doors, further deepening the standoff. ...Read More >

The accused, Md Rehan, allegedly sexually assaulted the girl on the pretext of marriage and blackmailed her with objectionable photographs, a senior police official said. He said the incident came to light on June 18, when an MLC (medico-legal case) report was received from Spinal Injuries Hospital stating that a girl had been admitted there after she consumed acid. A police team reached the hospital, but the girl was declared unfit for recording a statement at the time. The local crime team wa ...Read More >