As Law and Order In Odisha Goes From Bad to Worse, Majhi Government Acts Only When Forced To

The Wire

09-07-2025

Some say the series of violent incidents in the last year or so point to the government losing its grip on administration.
Bhubaneswar: From an Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) officer being assaulted in his office to a college-going woman being gang-raped on a well-known beach and minority community members facing repeated attacks, the law and order situation in Odisha seems to have gone from bad to worse during the one-year rule of the state's maiden BJP government led by chief minister Mohan Majhi.
What is even more appalling is that in almost each of these cases, the government acted only after protests erupted and public pressure mounted, leaving it with no other choice than to initiate action against the guilty.
In the most recent case, supporters of a senior BJP leader, who was the party's candidate for the Bhubaneswar Central assembly seat in the 2024 elections, barged into the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation's office located along a busy thoroughfare on June 30 and dragged an OAS officer out into the foyer of the building. He was kicked and punched repeatedly as people watched helplessly.
As the video of the incident went viral and opposition parties as well as members of the OAS Association protested, the five accused, including a BJP corporator, were suspended from the primary membership of the party.
However, there was no action against the senior party leader who was alleged to have orchestrated the humiliating and inhuman assault on a serving officer inside his office.
The man, who is believed to enjoy the blessings of BJP bigwigs, finally surrendered before the police after OAS officers across the state went on a wildcat strike, bringing administrative work to a halt.
The assault on the OAS officer came in the wake of the gang-rape of a 20-year-old woman on the Gopalpur beach on June 15 during the Raja festival that celebrates womanhood.
The woman, who had gone to the beach with a male friend, was assaulted by a group of three men who were assisted by seven others, including two minors.
Though the accused were arrested after the news spread like wildfire, causing acute embarrassment to the government, the administration is yet to explain why there were no proper security arrangements on the beach, which is a well-known tourist destination.
Only a few days later, the state hit the headlines again, with a 31-year-old woman from the predominantly tribal Mayurbhanj district being raped by four men. The woman was dragged out of her house and taken to a second location where she was sexually assaulted by the accused, who allegedly threatened to kill her if she told anyone about the incident.
Former Biju Janata Dal (BJD) MLA Latika Pradhan lambasted the Majhi government for failing to protect the dignity of women while making tall claims about empowering them.
'All this talk about the empowerment of women is bunkum. The fact is that on an average at least four women are raped almost every month in the state. Under this government, Odisha has become the most unsafe place' for women in the state, alleged Pradhan, adding that the law and order situation had collapsed with all kinds of crimes being committed.
'There are allegations of cannabis and liquor being seized from the vehicle of a BJP MLA. What kind of a government are they running?' she asked.
Former Congress MLA Lalatendu Mohapatra also accused the BJP government of soft-pedalling cases of assault on women and minorities.
'Our party has been carrying on a campaign on this issue. Our MLAs raised the issue in the state assembly, but the government instead of acting upon the cases brought to light by them chose to initiate punitive action against them. But our fight on the issue continues and we will not rest till women get justice,' said Mohapatra.
The Majhi government started its tenure off on the wrong foot, with an army officer and his lawyer fiancee being harassed at a police station in Bhubaneswar within months of the government coming to power.
The case, which made the national headlines, led to state-wide protests that forced the government to suspend five police personnel, including the inspector in-charge of the Bharatpur police station, where the incident had taken place. However, the suspension of four of them was withdrawn in less than a year.
The fledgling Majhi government faced its first major challenge when communal tension gripped the Balasore town barely six days after the government was sworn in. With clashes between two communities leaving at least 20 persons injured, the entire town had to be placed under curfew and some internet services had to be suspended. It took a few days for the situation in Balasore, the constituency of former Union minister Pratap Sarangi, to return to normal.
However, the government appears to not have learned its lesson from the incident, as communal elements continued to feel emboldened and started targeting Christians.
A violent incident was reported towards the end of last year from the Remuna area of Balasore, where two tribal women were tied to a tree and beaten up by a mob on suspicion of engaging in religious conversion.
The mob, led by a man sporting a vermillion tika and shouting 'Jai Shri Ram' and 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai', also smeared the face of one of the women with the cake she had allegedly brought to celebrate the conversion of a Hindu man to Christianity.
After a video of the incident went viral on social media, police detained four youths who were later released after apologising to the women they had assaulted.
Such incidents, however, continue to be reported from different parts of the state. Last month, two Dalit men in Ganjam district were assaulted, partially tonsured and forced to eat grass and drink dirty drain water after being falsely accused of smuggling cattle. The incident took place in broad daylight in the district's Kharigumma village.
The victims, Bulu Nayak (52) and Babul Nayak (43) of Singipur village, had reportedly purchased a cow and two calves from Haripur as part of a dowry arrangement for a family member's marriage ceremony, and were transporting the cattle to their village aboard a cargo auto-rickshaw.
They were intercepted at Kharigumma by a group of self-styled ' go rakshak s' or cow protectors, who accused them of transporting cattle illegally. The group snatched their mobile phones and cash and demanded Rs 30,000 in exchange for releasing the animals. When the duo refused, the miscreants tied up their limbs, thrashed them and partially shaved their heads. They were forced to crawl for nearly two kilometres with blades of grass between their teeth and even made to drink dirty drain water.
Arrests were made in the case only following public uproar and condemnation by the two major opposition parties, the BJD and the Congress. While the grand old party also sent a fact-finding team to the area, the National Human Rights Commission took cognisance of the incident as well.
Political analyst Shashikant Mishra views these incidents as an alarming sign of the government losing its grip on administration.
'Crimes of this nature reflect poorly on the government, especially because the chief minister himself holds the home portfolio. Any popular government must first inspire confidence among people [with] efficient handling of law and order,' said Mishra.
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