Youth makes reel with Biju Patnaik’s glasses in Odisha’s Kendrapara; video goes viral

Rajnagar: A college student allegedly took out a pair of glasses from a life-size statue of statesman and former Odisha Chief Minister Biju Patnaik to make a reel yesterday in Rajnagar of Kendrapara district. The video went viral on different social media platforms after being uploaded by the student.

However, the Plus III Final-Year student of Sri Sri Jagannath Mahavidyalaya begged an apology before the statue as a disciplinary committee of the educational institution found him guilty today.

According to a source, the accused student identified as Azad Kumar Das climbed up to the statue through an attached staircase and shot the reel with the glasses in his hands. Allegedly, he made some inappropriate gestures during the video shoot. Later, the video invited resentment and scathing criticism from people belonging to all sections of society.

The college authorities convened a meeting of its disciplinary committee and asked Azad and another student who shot the video, including their parents to appear before it for questioning.

Worth mentioning, the statue located on the premises of the college was previously named after the legendary political leader and was formerly known as Bijayananda Mahavidyalaya. During an earlier visit to the college, Patnaik had asked to change its name hence it was renamed at a later stage.