Congress attacks Odisha government

Bhubaneswar, July 24: The Congress party on Sunday attacked Odisha Chief Minister veen Patik over the “killing of innocent tribal people in the me of Maoists” in the state. “Five tribals and Dalits were killed by security personnel in Kandhamal district. But, there was no word from veen Patik over the issue. This is for the fourth time in last 12 months that innocent tribals got killed,” said senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

Ramesh was the part of a five-member central team of the All India Congress Committee (AICC), which visited Gumudumaha village in Kandhamal on Saturday. “It seems the Chief Minister wants a tribal-free Odisha,” he said.

“The Kandhamal encounter was not a cross firing between security personnel and Maoists. This was one-way firing. We would raise the issue in the Parliament. The government must act against the persons involved in the killing,” said Ramesh.

Another Congress leader V. Kishore Chandra Deo demanded that the chief minister should own moral responsibility for the Kandhamal incident and ensure that such incident would not occur in future. (IANS)