Odisha MLA Prashant Jagdev, suspended by BJD for assaulting BJP leader, arrested

Odisha MLA Prashant Jagdev, who was arrested by the police for slapping and abusing a Dalit leader of BJP, has courted controversies in the past over his strong-arm tactics.

Bhubaneswar: A 50-year-old Odisha MLA who was suspended from the ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) last month over assaulting a Dalit leader of BJP near Chilika lake was arrested on Friday and sent to jail after a sessions court rejected his bail petition.

Odisha MLA Prashant Jagdev who was suspended by his party BJD for assaulting a BJP rival in September, has been arrested. (Twitter/@PrasantJagdev)

Prashant Jagdev, the BJD’s Chilika MLA, was sent to judicial custody after the Khurda additional sessions court rejected his bail application in the case of slapping and abusing BJP leader Niranjan Sethi. The Orissa high court rejected his anticipatory bail application on October 5.

Jagdev, who in the past has courted controversies over his strong-arm tactics, allegedly thrashed BJP’s Dalit leader Niranjan Sethi on September 8 when the latter protested the delay in distribution of National Food Security Act cards for the beneficiaries and assistance for construction of houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana in Balugaon area of Khurda district. Jagdev also attacked a photojournalist and snatched his mobile.

Biju Janata Dal suspended Prashant Jagdev from the party within hours.

In December 2018, Prashant Jagdev threatened former Begunia sarpanch Naba Swain at the block office in the presence of district officials. In November 2016, he allegedly flung a kerosene lantern at the woman tehsildar of Bolgad when the latter was mapping a land. In July 2016, Prashant Jagdev and his supporters allegedly thrashed BJP activists over showing black flags to food supply minister and Youth BJD president Sanjay Dasburma in Boudh district.