Bhubaneswar, Dec. 20: Goons today hurled eggs at the official residence of mayor Ananta Naryan Jena, who is facing heat over his alleged involvement in a sex tape.
Four persons with their faces covered threw eggs at the house located near Rajmahal Square when Jena was taking a morning walk in the compound.
Police sources said the goons were carrying BJP flags, but state BJP president Basant Panda denied this. "Our men don't indulge in such acts," he said. #In the evening, a 12-member delegation, led by BJP state vice-president Samir Mohanty, went to the chief minister's office to submit "evidence" about the mayor's alleged links with the sex tape and the mysterious death of an engineering student.
However, they were not allowed to meet the chief minister, as they did not have a confirmed appointment with Naveen. The BJP delegation had yesterday sought an appointment from the chief minister's office, which they did not get.
Party spokesperson Sajjan Sharma described the development as unfortunate. "We wanted to give him some papers, but he seems to be deliberately closing his eyes to evidence against Jena," said Sharma.
The Congress today organised a demonstration expressing solidarity with its students' wing chief Itish Pradhan as he went to appear before the police to record his statement. Pradhan was the first to bring the allegations against Jena.
On their way to the Capital police station, Congress members had a scuffle with the cops near the mayor's house near Rajmahal Square. The cops took all of them into custody.
Senior Congress leader Suresh Routray said: "Let the police investigate the matter, but the mayor should immediately step down. We will continue our protest till he resigns. The big question, however, is why is the chief minister quiet on the issue?"
Itish Pradhan, who was hospitalised following the scuffle with the police, said: "We have strong reason to believe that the mayor was involved in the death of the student. The man in the sex clip is the mayor himself. We will provide proof to the police."
On the other hand, Pradip Pandey, the editor of the portal that had uploaded the video, also appeared before the police.
"I came to the police station as they had asked me to record my statement. I told them how the mayor was involved in the death of the student. Let the police investigate and find out the truth."
The mayor said: "I am innocent. God will give me justice. The court has already stopped news channels from showing the controversial video clippings. I am eagerly waiting for the court's next hearing scheduled on December 28."
The police today chalked out plans on how to tackle the dawn-to-dusk Bhubaneswar bandh called by BJP tomorrow. The state government asked its officials to report to office by 9.30am tomorrow cautioning them that all the gates of the state secretariat would be closed by 10.15am.
