Bhubaneswar, July 20: The state unit of the IAS Officers' Association today condemned the attack on Puri district collector Arvind Agrawal on the occasion of niladri bije - the entry of the Trinity into the Jagannath temple on July 17.
The IAS Officers'Association secretary Vishal Dev said: "The district collector is the senior-most officer in district. It is sad and unfortunate to see that the district collector, who stands to ensure law and order, has been roughed up. Time has come to initiate strong action. We will soon call a meeting on this issue and urge the government to take a tough stand on this."
Agarwal in his FIR described how servitors had manhandled, abused and threatened to kill him while he was doing his duty when niladri bije was going on. Senior police officers reportedly came to his rescue.
The problem cropped up after Agarwal had issued direction to officials to take action against a servitor, who had taken his daughter atop Taladhwaj, the chariot of Lord Balabhadra, the elder brother of Lord Jagannath, during niladri bije.
Instead of co-operating with the administration, the servitors allegedly manhandled the district collector.
In another development, Puri police today arrested six more servitors in connection with the incident and sent them to jail. Many servitors have also absconded fearing arrest.
Two teams of police today conducted surprised checks to the nab the servitors, who had been accused of manhandling the district magistrate as well as the media personnel who were present to cover the rituals of Lord Jagannath on that day.
Secretary of the Garabadu Niyog (a section of servitors) Rajat Pratihari said: "A detailed inquiry should be made by the revenue divisional commissioner. Many innocent people have been arrested. Action should be taken against those who are guilty and the innocent should be released."
President of Daitapati Niyog Association Ram Krushna Das Mohapatra said: "Those who are involved in the attack should be booked. But efforts to malign the daitapati community should be condemned."