Ruckus at Red Cross, Secretary attacked

BHUBANESWAR: A contractor’s supervisor went on a rampage at the Orissa Red Cross Society office here on Thursday morning threatening to cause bodily harm to the secretary Mangala Charan Mohanty.Balaram Pradhan, as the accused was identified later, barged into the office of Mohanty at about 11.45 am and created a scene.  He started hurling abuses at Mohanty. When the Red Cross secretary objected to Pradhan’s behaviour, the latter brought out a sharp weapon and went after him. To save himself, Mohanty ran into the office toilet and locked it from inside, police said.Pradhan then went berserk in the office chamber of Mohanty, damaging chairs, tables, computers and other furniture.  When police reached the Red Cross office, the attacker fled the spot leaving his bike behind.Investigation revealed that Pradhan was the supervisor of the contractor who was entrusted with the repair and white-washing work of the Red Cross Bhawan. The entire work was estimated at ` 8 lakh. The contractor, PK Sahu, has so far been paid ` 5 lakh.In fact, the Red Cross office had received sanction for payment of the balance amount on August 8. Police suspect that Pradhan apparently was enraged with Mohanty for not releasing the payment.Soon after the incident, Kharaverla Nagar Police detained three employees of the Red Cross along with an associate of the contractor. They were quizzed.During a raid in the evening, Pradhan was arrested. More arrests are likely in the case.The matter was also brought to the notice of Governor Murlidhar Chandrakant Bhandare.