Maintain 'raj dharma': Pradhan urges Patnaik as police detain BJP leaders
With a high-level BJP delegation being prevented from entering violence-hit Sambalpur, senior party leader and Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan Tuesday urged Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik to maintain raj dharma and act in a neutral manner.
Pradhan's statement came hours after the Odisha Police detained members of the delegation comprising, among others, Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti and Tribal Affairs Bisheswar Tudu, Sundergarh MP Jual Oram and BJP state president Manmohan Samal.
They were intercepted at Sripura Chhak on Jharsuguda-Sambalpur road and denied permission to move further. Later, they were taken to nearby Thelkoli police station and reportedly detained for seven hours till 7 pm.
Though Tudu left the police station after some time, the other members remained there and were released on the condition that they would not visit Sambalpur, as curfew is in place in the city, officials said.
"The BJP delegation was denied permission to enter the city because th