A video purportedly showing some ruling Biju Janata Dal (BJD) workers stabbing a Congress leader's son in Odisha's Koraput district has gone viral on Facebook and YouTube.
The CCTV footage was recorded in a hotel around 1am on Friday, around seven hours after the first phase of the Lok Sabha and assembly elections was held in Odisha.
The footage purportedly shows a group of assailants, including BJD's youth wing president Dharmendra Adhikari, entering the hotel and attacking Congress leader Taraprasad Bahinipati's family members with knives.
The son, brother and nephew of Bahinipati, a candidate for the Jaypore assembly segment, were staying at the hotel. Bhanipati contested the elections against state minister Rabi Narayan Nanda.
Later, Congress workers took the three profusely bleeding youth to a hospital.
While Bahinipati's son and nephew are said to be stable, his brother is still in a critical condition. He is undergoing treatment in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh.
The Congress had called a shutdown in Koraput on Friday.
The video has sent shockwaves across Odisha. Congress workers obtained the CCTV footage from the hotel and uploaded them on Facebook and YouTube.Watch video:
Bahinipati has filed a complaint with the police against several BJD men, including school and mass education minister Nanda.
{{/usCountry}}Bahinipati has filed a complaint with the police against several BJD men, including school and mass education minister Nanda.
{{/usCountry}}The police have started an investigation and seized the CCTV footage from the hotel. No arrest has been made so far.
"All the assailants have been identified and will be arrested soon," a police officer said.
Nanda has refuted the allegations, saying, "The BJD has nothing to with the incident."