Bhubaneswar: Police on Saturday arrested two men for a late-night brawl outside the residence of former minister and senior BJD leader Pratap Jena here. Video clips show a group of youths heckling a staff member, issuing threats, and invoking “Biju legacy” to justify an MLA’s alleged cross-voting.Police identified the arrested duo as Sidhartha Swain and Debi Prasad Lenka — both among the 10 office-bearers of the BJD students’ and youth wings suspended earlier on Friday for anti-party activities. Swain and Lenka were vice-presidents of the Biju Chhatra Janata Dal. The suspension order was issued by Jena, who is the party’s vice-president (headquarters). Police said they have been booked for attempt to murder and house trespass, among other sections.Jena said around 15 to 20 “drunken thugs”, including suspended BJD members and some BJP workers, forcibly entered his house in central Bhubaneswar, where his family lives. He said he was not home during the incident and learnt about it after a call from his staff around 11.30 pm.“Our security personnel were threatened at gunpoint. My house staff were abused and beaten. My family was inside at the time. This is not just an attack — it is armed terror,” he said.Referring to the Rajya Sabha elections, Jena said: “What happened inside the Assembly has now reached our doorstep with guns in hand. BJD legislators who betrayed the trust of the people and their party for money are now sending armed thugs to silence the truth. History will not forgive these crimes.”Former chief minister and BJD president Naveen Patnaik condemned the attack. He wrote on X: “Those who insulted democracy with money power in the Rajya Sabha elections have now incited violence through hooligans. This is not two separate incidents but a stark example of misgovernance and deteriorating law and order.”At a press conference, BJD youth wing president Chinmay Sahu said the attackers invoked the name of Banki MLA Devi Ranjan Tripathy while vandalising Jena’s residence.Devi distanced himself from the incident, calling it “extremely unfortunate and avoidable”. He said: “Once the party acted against the youths, there was no issue in staging a political protest. But such an attack is unacceptable.”BJP spokesperson Manoj Mohapatra denied any BJP role. He questioned why Jena was staying in the accommodation allotted to BJD MLA Prasanta Behera.
