Desperate Gajbhiye plays Dalit card to stave off action

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Aug 13:

Finding himself cornered on all sides, a desperate Satish Gajbhiye, former Kendrapara SP, has now thrown his last dice to wriggle out of the royal mess that he has got himself into and save himself from action being contemplated against him by the Odisha government, playing the Dalit card to the hilt.

The beleaguered IPS officer’s desperate move came soon after Home secretary Asit Tripathy told the media that the government was waiting for the DGP’s report on the allegations of excessive use of force in Kendrapara by the former SP and an inquiry into alleged illegal acquisition of land by him in Gop block in Puri district before initiating action against him. “If found guilty, action will be taken against him,” Tripathy had said.

A few moments after Tripathy briefed the media, some reporters received calls from a caller identifying himself as Satish Gajbhiye. The caller invited them to a press meet organized by Odisha SC, ST and Minorities Coordination Committee to be held at Budha Mandir here at around noon.

Word spread among reporters and many of them rushed to attend the press meet. On reaching there, they found that the press meet has been called by the Committee’s convener Abhiram Mallick.

Mallick said Satish Gajbhiye was innocent and taking action against him was not appropriate.

When reporters asked Mallick whether the excesses committed by the police in Kendrapara and Gajbhiye in particular was appropriate, Committee members got agitated,even getting into a scuffle with the reporters present at the press meet.

Two office bearers of the committee Bibhrantikar Biswajit Bhoi and Anil Mallick heckled the reporters. The situation turned so violent that Kharvelanagar police had to be called in and. The youths, who are office bearers of the Committee, were detained and are being interrogated by the police.

The youths claimed that they had gone on a fact-finding mission to Kendrapara and this was their assessment of Satish Gajbhiye. On being questioned by reporters who they had met, they fumbled for an answer and turned their ire against the reporters heckling them.

Observers who have kept a watch over the developments in Kendrapara and Gajbhiye are of the opinion that after the TRP card in Facebook postings, uploading of videos on YouTube, shifting the blame on CMO and DGP for his action in Kendrapara, threatening the government with legal action if punished, the police officer has now gone full circle by playing his last card – the Dalit card – in a desperate attempt to defend himself.