Bombs hurled at BJP MLA Mohan Majhi’s vehicle in Odisha: Police

BJP MLA Mohan Majhi was returning from a labour union meeting around 1 pm in Odisha when the incident occurred

Bhubaneswar Senior BJP leader and Opposition chief whip in the Odisha assembly Mohan Majhi on Sunday escaped unhurt after two bike-borne miscreants allegedly hurled country-made bombs at his car near Mandua in Koenjhar district. A case has been registered with the Town police station, said the police.

BJP MLA Mohan Majhi said miscreants allegedly hurled country-made bombs at his vehicle in Odisha. (Odisha State Legislative Assembly via Wikimedia Commons)

The Keonjhar MLA was returning from a labour union meeting at around 1 pm when the incident occurred. The front panel of the vehicle was partially damaged in the attack, but Majhi and his driver sustained no injuries.

“I had gone to the office of the Utkal Sambad of the Siksha Vikash Samiti near Mandua to attend the executive meeting of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh. After attending the meeting, I was on the way to my house at Mandua when two youths intercepted my vehicle. One of them in a black shirt got off the bike and hurled two bombs at my vehicle. He also tried to take out a pistol but was chased away by my PSO. They then fled towards the railway station,” he said.

Majhi alleged local Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader Raja Chakra was behind the attack, as three weeks ago, he had issued a threat to him while addressing a party meeting in the Keonjhar Sadar block. However, Chakra termed Majhi’s allegations ‘false and baseless’.

Following the incident, tension ran high in Keonjhar town as hundreds of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) activists staged a road blockade and burned tyres on National Highway-49 at Gandhi Chhak.

“During my 20 years of career in politics, I might have developed political enmity. But I don’t have any enemy at a personal level,” said Majhi after the incident.

Later, Union education minister and senior BJP leader Dharmendra Pradhan tweeted that the attack on Majhi showed how the law and order in the state were deteriorating. “There would always be a difference of opinion in a democracy, but attacking a public representative is a matter of concern. As the minister for the home department, the chief minister should take strong action,” tweeted Pradhan.