Odisha official forced to do sit-ups: Tribals face off with cops; demand MLA’s arrest

Bargarh: Tension prevailed in front of the Bargarh district Collector’s office here after a group of tribals staged a demonstration in front of it demanding immediate arrest of Patnagarh MLA Saroj Meher for forcing a junior engineer to do sit-ups in public for poor quality road construction.

Sources said a scuffle ensued between members of various tribal associations and police personnel deployed on the spot when the latter tried to disperse the mob. However, police later took control over the situation.

Earlier in the day, the activists took out a rally to the Collectorate holding traditional weapons and playing musical instruments. They later had a face-off with the cops when they attempted to barge into the office.

Worth mentioning, PWD Junior Engineer Jaykant Sabar was forced to do sit-ups by the MLA Meher in Patnagarh area recently for poor quality road construction work. The incident had come to fore after a video of the same went viral on social media. However, the MLA had later tendered an apology for his unruly behaviour.