Balasore: Senior BJD leader and Kendrapara MP Baijayant Panda was not given permission by the district administration to land his helicopter on government land during his visit to Bhogarai block in Odisha’s Balasore district to attend the concluding function of a cricket tournament on Friday.
He managed to land his helicopter after the tournament organizers identified a private land.
Sources said the Star Cricket Club, Bhogarai, had invited Panda to attend the concluding function of the tournament at Palusia village as chief guest.
Panda arrived at the venue on his helicopter in the afternoon. But local tehsildar Rama Chandra Kisku did not allow him to land his chopper at a place, identified by the organizers, saying it was government land.
Finally Panda managed to land his helicopter after the club members identified a private land inside the cricket ground at 12 pm.
“The tehsildar told us that the district collector has asked him not to give permission to land the helicopter. But our club members found a private plot to land his helicopter,” said president of Star Cricket Club Amlendu Das.
What asked about the matter, the tehsildar said the club members had asked him to provide a loud speaker and identify a place for landing of the helicopter. “I told them I can provide them the loud speaker. But I asked them to seek permission from the Sub-Collector,” he added.
Sub-Collector Bhabatarana Sahu said no one has applied for official permission to land the helicopter.
Besides Panda, local BJP leader Dillip Kamila (husband of Rajashree Kamila, who was recently arrested for hurling eggs at Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik) was present at the function.
Before leaving the venue at 3 pm, Panda expressed happiness over the hospitality of the people of Bhogarai. He said apart from the people of Kendrapara, his home constituency, he is also liked by the people of other parts of Odisha.
Talking about the denial of permission by the district administration to land his helicopter, Panda said it is not necessary to seek permission from the government to land a helicopter on government land.
Regarding the visit of Panda, local MLA and Higher Education Minister Ananta Das said there were no BJD workers at the function except the locals who had gathered there to see the helicopter.
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