"Law and order situation deteriorating": BJD leader Pratap Keshari Deb on Nepal student suicide

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], February 17 (ANI): Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former Energy Minister Pratap Keshari Deb expressed concerns over the worsening law and order situation in Odisha following the recent suicide of a Nepalese student in Bhubaneswar.
"This thing was supposed to be the last thing to happen to the government of Odisha. The state's law and order situation has been deteriorating for the last four months. So we have been protesting about this thing," Deb said.
The BJD leader further criticized the Odisha government for failing to address the rising lawlessness in the state, claiming that the police were "groping in the dark" in their efforts to maintain order. "We have been telling and talking in the assembly about how the law and order situation is deteriorating. And the police are still groping in the dark," he added.
Deb attributed the deteriorating situation to the BJP cadre, suggesting that people no longer fear the police. "And this is happening because of the BJP cadre because people do not fear the police as president," he stated.
Addressing the recent tragic incident of suicide by a student from Nepal, Deb expressed his concern stating, "The incident you are talking about, which has happened, is very sad that an international student, a student from Nepal who was staying in Bhubaneswar, died by suicide," he said.
Deb reaffirmed that the issue of deteriorating law and order would be a key point of discussion in the upcoming assembly session. "These things will definitely be discussed in the House," he assured.
The reaction comes after, a third-year BTech student was found hanging from the ceiling fan of her room at the girl's hostel room on February 15 evening.
An FIR was later filed at the Infocity police station of Bhubaneswar on February 16 on the complaint of the cousin of the deceased girl alleging that the latter was being blackmailed by a male student at the university, which led her to hang herself. The police have lodged a case under Section 108 of the BNS.
The KIIT University on Monday evening issued a statement appealing to Nepali students "who have or plan to leave the campus to return and resume the classes." (ANI)