Odisha: Raj Bhavan staffer who accused governor’s son of assault transferred
The alleged incident occurred on July 7 because the man did not dispatch two luxury cars to receive Raghubar Das’s son at Puri railway station.
![Odisha: Raj Bhavan staffer who accused governor’s son of assault transferred](https://sc0.blr1.cdn.digitaloceanspaces.com/article/202166-fkqngyirsk-1721110381.jpeg)
A staffer at the Odisha Raj Bhavan, who has accused Governor Raghubar Das’s son of physically assaulting him, was transferred to the state’s home department on Monday, PTI reported.
The man, Baikuntha Pradhan, had been posted as an assistant section officer at the Raj Bhavan in Puri.
Das’s son Lalit Kumar and five others allegedly slapped, punched and kicked Pradhan on the Raj Bhavan premises, where he was supervising the preparations for President Droupadi Murmu’s visit, on July 7.
The president was in Odisha from July 6 to July 9 during the annual Rath Yatra festivities.
Pradhan has alleged he was assaulted because he did not dispatch two luxury cars to receive Kumar at Puri railway station.
On July 10, Pradhan lodged a police complaint and submitted a written complaint to the governor’s principal secretary.
Pradhan and his wife met the governor on Saturday.
“We are awaiting justice,” his wife Sayoj Pradhan told The Indian Express. “Since the governor has sought time from us to take action and ensure justice, we will wait for some days. If no action is taken against the culprits, we will pursue our case again.”
She also added that her husband’s transfer order may have been issued on his request.
The Odisha Secretariat Service Association on Monday urged the state government to no longer deploy its cadre at the governor’s secretariat, reported the newspaper. Pradhan belongs to the Odisha Secretariat Service cadre.
“The incident is unfortunate and agonising for the employee fraternity as a whole,” the association said in a memorandum submitted to the Odisha home secretary on Monday.
The physical assault on Sri Baikuntha Pradhan, ASO by the son of the highest authority of the State @GovernorOdisha , while rendering his official duty in the Governor House at Puri during the visit of Her Excellency President of India, is quite unfortunate and disgraceful. pic.twitter.com/kUzYlGyg79
— ODISHA SECRETARIAT SERVICE ASSOCIATION (@OSSA_ODISHA) July 13, 2024