Law and order has collapsed in Odisha, says Congress

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Mar 27:

Senior Congress leader and leader of the Opposition Narasingh Mishra today said the report of the White Paper-2014 has proved that the law and order situation in Odisha is in a shambles, particularly in the area of crimes against women.

“The report of the White Paper for the year 2014 submitted by the state government in the State Assembly today makes it clear that the law and order situation in the state has gone completely out of control. Three years ago, an average of four rape cases were being registered in the state every day. Now the number has now gone up to six. If there is a 50% rise in such cases in just three years, one can very well understand the state of the law and order situation in the state,” Mishra told reporters here.

He also disputed the claim of the state government that there has been considerable improvement in the Maoist situation in the state is not correct.

The ruling BJD, however, has refuted the allegations made by the Leader of Opposition and sought to attribute the rise in the number of rape cases registered to the fact that more victims are now reporting such cases to the police.

“Earlier, there were a number of crimes which were not reported at all. But the present government, as per the directive of the Supreme Court, has ensured registration of each crime in the police station,” said BJD spokesperson Amar Prasad Satpathy.

“The state government has been trying its best to restore law and order situation as promptly as it can. Overall, Odisha has remained a peaceful state when compared to other states,” Satpathy said.