Subhas Chandra Pattanayak
Severely injured Jagannath Bastia, Puri Correspondent of The Samaj, in his FIR on 6th before being shifted to a Bhubaneswar Hospital for bone fracture repair, has named ruling party stalwart Maheswar Mohany, a former Speaker and sitting member of Orissa Legislative Assembly as the instigator of the attempt to murder him. The motive behind the murderous assault, that has caused multiple bone fractures in his leg and hands, was set to avenge exposure of land scam in the pilgrimage city, in which, Mohanty was allegedly the facilitator.
Mohanty has instantly refuted the allegation stating that the injured scribe might have acquiesced in to pressure from his political rivals to implicate him falsely in the FIR.
Two unidentified goons attacked Bastia at 11.15 in the night on 5th while he was returning to his home from the bureau office of Samaj at Puri. It was an unprovoked attack, designed to murder him. He was saved, he says, by catching hold of the stick before it could hit his head.
Samaj editor Sarat Mishra has rushed a request to Chief Minister Navin Patnaik to wake up the Police into action against the assailants even as all the trade unions of journalists have condemned the dastardly act and have expressed shock over continuous attack on Press under the present regime.