\'Mentally sick’ youth holds mother to ransom in front of Odisha Assembly
Tensions prevailed for an hour on Thursday in Odisha's capital city Bhubaneswar after a youth held his mother to ransom in front of the State Assembly near Lower PMG Square, seeking actions against some “corrupt” ministers.
The youth identified as Jitendra Pal of Daspalla area in Nayagarh district appeared in front of the Assembly with his mother in the afternoon. All of a sudden, he brought out a knife hidden in his bag and grabbed his mother Jharana Pal’s neck declaring he would kill her if actions were not taken against "corrupt" ministers.
He threatened to slit his mother Jharana’s throat if any police personnel approached him to rescue his mother.
Vehicular movement on the busy stretch was also disrupted for a while due to the nuisance.
Sources said Jitendra was accompanying his mother to a private hospital here in the city. As they were walking along the Sachivalaya Marg, he swooped on his mother and held the knife against her throat, threatening to kill her if his demands for actions against the minister were not met.
The youth was carrying some leaflets and was uttering names of some ministers and political leaders alleging corruption and harassment to the public.
While holding a knife against his mother's throat, he was heard screaming in English,“Chief minister Naveen Patnaik is innocent. But his misters are corrupt. He mentioned the names of two ministers as the ones who are corrupt.”
The cops adroitly managed the crisis and succeeded in rescuing the woman from his captivity.
Bhubaneswar Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Umashankar Dash praised the officers for rescuing the woman tactfully and said they would be rewarded for their intelligence.
The DCP also informed that the youth was sent to SCB Medical College and Hospital, Cuttack, as he was suffering from mental illness.
However, police detained the two after a while and took both of them to custody for questioning.
The youth’s mother said her son was mentally sick and was undergoing treatment for the past few years now.
