Odisha law minister shot at, hospitalised

BHUBANESWAR: Odisha law minister Maheswar Mohanty was seriously injured on Friday night after an unidentified person fired at him in the temple town of Puri.

Mohanty received two bullets – one in his shoulder and another on his hand – on his way home in a scooter after attending a meeting. The assailant fled immediately, with the police suspecting that two more people were involved in the crime.

This is the second attack on him in two years. In 2012, some youths had assaulted him with iron rods when he was addressing a meeting.

The minister was rushed to the district hospital and later shifted to a private hospital in Bhubaneswar. The incident has sent shockwaves across Puri with hundreds thronging the hospital. CM Naveen Patnaik has condemned the incident. HTC