Cuttack, Mar 8: The incident of razing of legendary Biju Patnaik's statue in Cuttack district's Mahanga area was unearthed with accused persons Nandkishore Mallick and Biswajit Mohapatra alias Raja, reportedly confessing that they were employed by former Minister Pratap Jena's close aide Bismaya Mohapatra alias Ilu to ravage the statue.

They said that Ili had given them liquor and asked him to break the idol. The accused also posted an apology on social media. According to the information, Ilu is a close associate of Pratap Jena. Pratap Jena had said at a gathering that Ilu was his man. Notably, Biju Bahu's statue was vandalized at Ummer village under Bhadreswar police station in Maganga block on the eve of Biju Patnaik's birth anniversary.

The incident triggered massive outrage in the area. Some enthusiastic Biju lovers had installed the statue in front of the Hanuman Temple in the village.

After the statue was razed, locals expressed unhappiness and demanded a high-level inquiry into the incident and strict action against the culprits. Salepur SDPO Biranchi Narayan Pati and Bhadreswar police station officer-in-charge Sandhyarani Singh rushed to the spot and inspected the CCTV cameras installed in the temple and various shops in the area.