BHUBANESWAR: Bishal Kumar Das, a BJD leader and the son of the late cabinet minister Naba Kishore Das, was detained by Saraipali police in Chhattisgarh’s Mahasamund district in the early hours of Friday. The Chhattisgarh police have not yet cited the reasons for Bishal’s detention or any charges against him.
The incident gained attention after a social media video surfaced showing Bishal requesting assistance from the Odisha govt and DGP for his release from Chhattisgarh. In the footage, Bishal stated that he and several Panchayat Samiti members from Jharsuguda district were wrongfully held by police in the neighbouring state around 2 am.
Bishal claimed his detention was connected to a no-confidence vote against the Kirmira block chairperson in Jharsuguda on Friday. “We were detained just hours before the no-confidence voting. It seems to be a conspiracy against us,” said Bishal, whose hotel was searched on Thursday.
BJD leader Dipali Das, who is Bishal’s sister and former Jharsuguda MLA, challenged the police actions. She criticised both the hotel search and her brother’s unwarranted detention by Chhattisgarh police before the no-confidence motion against the Kirmira block chairman.
“No-confidence vote against the Kirmira block chairman was to be held at 10.30 am on Friday. However, Jharsuguda police detained our supporters at around 1 am and handed them over to the Chhattisgarh police. When my brother went there to know about their situation, he was also detained,” said Dipali, adding that: “It indicates that the BJP is scared of their defeat in the no-confidence vote. Democracy is being killed in the process.”
BJP dismissed these allegations. “The Chhattisgarh police should explain their reasons for detaining Bishal. Our party is not involved in the matter. The allegations of the BJD leaders are false and baseless as they are yet to recover from the loss in the 2024 assembly and Lok Sabha elections,” senior BJP leader Biranchi Narayan Tripathy said.
