BHUBANESWAR: The issue related to Ravenshaw University’s name change took a different turn on Friday after Commissionerate Police registered a case against a BJD MLA and two others in connection with a group clash that erupted at the university during a rally on Wednesday.
Participants of the mashal yatra (torch rally), mostly students, were protesting the proposed name change of the university at the rally.They claimed that outsiders assaulted them. The students had demanded the university authorities stop the entry of outsiders.
Later, a student lodged a complaint before the Malgodown police station, Cuttack, against some people, including BJD leaders BJD MLA Byomakesh Ray, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty, and a Cuttack local BJD man, Bobby Khan, for allegedly attacking them during the mashal rally.
Police Commissioner Sanjeeb Panda said they have registered a case against three BJD members, including the MLA on Thursday. Another student has filed a counter FIR in the case too. “We are investigating the cases. We have deployed one platoon of police force at the campus to maintain peace. We are monitoring the security situation of the university campus,” he added.
Official sources said police have slapped a section under the Arms Act besides other sections. The counter FIR was filed against the members of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) for attacking the students attending the mashal yatra, said Malgodown police.
BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty said the police have registered a false case against him along with others. There is no truth in the FIR filed by the ABVP student. “I, along with other alumni, did not enter the campus during the mashal yatra. We joined them from outside the gate. Police even slapped a section under the Arms Act falsely,” he added.
He said neither the police administration nor the BJP people can suppress their voice by registering a false case against them. “They will hold a meeting on this and chalk out a plan to protest this,” he added.
Surath Biswal, BJP Odisha spokesperson, questioned what Lenin Mohanty was doing at the Ravenshaw University mashal rally. “BJD is trying to make it a political issue by using their student wing. The Union education minister appealed to intellectuals and civil society members to hold a debate on the issue. But why is BJD reacting to this in a violent way?” he added.