Bhubaneswar, Sep 28 : Hundreds of activists of the Chhatra Congress, the student wing of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee on Wednesday held a demonstration here demanding the resignation of state School and Mass Education Minister Samir Ranjan Das for his alleged involvement in the suicide of BJD Zilla Parishad member Dharmendra Sahu.
The Chhatra Congress activists also demanded an inquiry against the minister.
Carrying posters and shouting slogans the agitators gheraoed the minister’s official residence.
An audio clip purportedly made by Sahu holding the minister and six others including his wife and father-in-law responsible for his suicide went viral on social media.
Police had a tough time controlling the agitators, who scuffled with the lawkeepers while unsuccessfully trying to gate-crash into the minister’s residence.
The agitating activists pelted eggs and tomatoes at the house.
Dharmendra Sahu, the Zilla Parishad member of Zone 11 in Nimapara, was found hanging in his residence in the Sishupalgarha area on the outskirts of the capital city Bhubaneswar on September 24.
Sahu, who hailed from khandiakud village of Gopa block in Puri district, was residing with his family at Sishupalgarha.
Earlier on September 25, a delegation of the OPCC led by senior party leader Sivananda Ray had submitted a memorandum to the DCP Bhubaneswar demanding an impartial inquiry into the incident.
State BJP Vice President Parvati Parida in a press conference on Tuesday also demanded the minister be expelled from the cabinet and demanded an impartial inquiry be held into the incident.