Bhubaneswar, March 17 :
Bhubaneswar, March 17:
A day after Vishwa Hindu Parishad and Bajrang Dal activists vandalised the Orissa Assembly, chief minister Naveen Patnaik promised exemplary punishment for the perpetrators and cracked the whip on policemen in charge of security outside the House.
Nineteen policemen, including two deputy superintendents, were suspended for negligence. More police heads are likely to roll.
'I am deeply shocked. Certain action has been taken and more is on the cards. We are examining everything,' Patnaik said on his return from Delhi.
The chief minister went around the Assembly building with Biju Janata Dal legislators, inspecting shattered windowpanes, smashed flower vases, broken doors, and torn name-plates, as well as the smashed mirrors in his personal toilet.
The MLAs recounted the 25 minutes of horror to him.
The BJD legislator from Tirtol in Jagatsinghpur district, Debashis Samantray, had to say he was a BJP member and holler 'Jai Sri Ram' to save his life as the trident and lathi-wielding mob accosted him. Samantray's party colleague and the government's chief whip Pradip Maharathy learnt that loyalty can sometimes be life threatening. He was assaulted by the rampaging mob.
'There is more to it than meets the eye,' Patnaik said.
The attackers did not venture towards Room No. 54, where a BJP Legislature Party meeting was on, BJD secretary-general Damodar Rout said. BJP state president Manmohan Samal and Union tribal welfare minister J. Oram were present at the meeting.
The mob was 'selective' in its target, the MLAs told their leader.
Patnaik said he would announce, in the House tomorrow, more action against the guilty.
Earlier, at a meeting with the chief secretary, the director-general of police and the home secretary, the chief minister expressed unhappiness at the failure of the three-tier security ring around the Assembly. 'It is disgusting. Such dastardly acts of vandalism by any organisation should be thoroughly condemned,' he said.
Legislators have demanded the suspension of the home secretary, the DGP and the Bhubaneswar superintendent of police for the security lapse.
The issue would be discussed in the Assembly tomorrow through an adjournment motion.
A decision on a judicial probe - demanded by many legislators - will be announced in the House, the chief minister said. The government had yesterday ordered an investigation by the state crime branch.
Khurda superintendent of police Arun Sarangi said more than 67 VHP and Bajrang Dal activists have been arrested and remanded in judicial custody on charges of rioting, arson, assault, trespassing and damage to government property. The arrested include Orissa Bajrang Dal president Bhuban Jena and VHP state chief Bipin Bihari Rath.
Patnaik said he has apprised Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and home minister L.K. Advani about the incident.
The Assembly attack is likely to create bedlam in Parliament tomorrow, reports our special correspondent in Delhi.
Under mounting criticism and facing demands for a ban, the VHP today made a half-hearted attempt at steering to the clear saying it 'regretted' the incident. But at the same time, it said 'pseudo-secular policies of people working in the political field have made the country's youth restive'.
The CPM politburo today demanded action against 'all perpetrators of this diabolic attack'. The attack exposes the fascist character of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal and their 'antipathy to the democratic polity and institutions', said a party statement.





