Bhubaneswar: Several people, including media persons, were attacked by a swarm of bees on Monday during a protest by Odisha Chhatra Congress and Youth Congress workers in front of the official residence of Odisha Government Chief Secretary Vishnupada Sethi.
According to reports, Odisha Students Congress and Youth Congress activists staged a protest demanding the arrest of Sethi in the 1 million bribe case.
However, after the bee attack, they were forced to flee from the scene due to panic. The police also got scared and had to flee from the scene. Some journalists were found kneeling on the ground while reporting the incident.
After someone disturbed a hive in a tree near the entrance of Sethi’s official residence, the bees turned violent and literally attacked the protestors.
“The protestors aimlessly threw tomatoes and eggs on the walls around Sethi’s house and on nearby trees. We suspect that this incident may have happened because the bees in the tree were damaged,’ said journalist Sukant Kumar Mohanty, who was present at the scene.
After shouting for about 30 minutes, after the bees calmed down, the Congress workers again continued their agitation. They raised slogans demanding the arrest of Sethi who accused Sethi of trying to take bribe from the driver to show favoritism to the work contractor.
When some protesters tried to enter Sethi’s government residence by climbing the barricade and jumping, the police detained them.
“Everyone in Odisha knows that many blacklisted companies were awarded tenders during the previous BJD regime under the new Patnaik leadership. We request the Mohan Majhi government to take immediate action against Vishnupada Sethi. Where is the bureaucracy hiding? Why are they not appearing in the summons of CBI? We are the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes of Odisha for corruption. We also demand the arrest of welfare minister Nityanand Gond,” said a protesting Congress leader.