Police have started an investigation on the bomb attack against RTI activist

On Sunday, Right to Information (RTI) activist, who is also a local BJP leader, had serious injuries after criminals threw bombs at him in Odisha’s Jajpur district, police said.

Sarbeswar Behuria was admitted to Dharmasala CHC for treatment after the attack on Saturday night near Imam Nagar, but later shifted to SCB College and Hospital in Cuttack as his condition worsened, they said.

Mr Behuria was returning home along with an associate in a car when two men blocked the vehicle, threw bombs and escaped.

“As (Mr) Behuria was driving the car, he suffered critical injuries. His assistant has also been admitted to hospital,” Saroj Kumar Sahu, inspector-in-charge of Dharmasala police station, said.

Police have started an investigation into the incident. Mr Behuria’s wife Rilu has filed a police complaint suspecting the hand of Dharmasala’s BJD MLA Pranab Balabantaray behind the bomb attack.

While opposition BJP claimed that Mr Behuria was its party member and also pointed the accusing finger at Balabantaray.

BJP state vice-president Bhrugu Baxipatra said that the saffron party will launch a bustle if the legislator is not arrested even after his name was mentioned in the FIR lodged by Mr Behuria’s wife.

“This is the BJD”s 18th attempt to eliminate BJP activists in Odisha. This is not the first attempt on (Mr) Behuria’s life. He had survived another attack 2-3 years ago.

“The BJD wanted to eliminate him because he helped unearth the ruling party’s corruption in Jajpur district, including illegal mining in Dankari Hill and he had led a BJP protest there,” he said.

Still, Mr Balabantaray did not talk about the incident, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said, “It is BJP’s habit to politicise all criminal cases. We are optimistic that the real culprits will soon be arrested.”