Plot thickens in cracker mishap

PARADIP: The cracker mishap during the Biju Workers’ Union rally has taken the shape of a conspiracy Barabati- Cuttack legislator Debasish Samantray and Santosh Kumar Patnaik, president of six trade unions, trading charges against each other.Refuting the allegations against Patnaik, BJD leader Gobind Tarai challenged Samantray to prove the charges.He said it was a ploy to shift attention from him and his colleague Bishnu Das, who are the main accused in the case.Secretary of Eastern India Oil Refinery Workers Union, Ranjan Kumar Pallei said this is a concerted effort to defame them. Oil Refineries Contract Labourer Cooperative Society Secretary Dillip Kumar Pradhan said people of Kujang are not going to buy the fabricated statements and people behind the conspiracy will be exposed.Tarai said they are contemplating legal action against the duo for attempting to tarnish the image of their leader. One of the six injured, 15-year-old Pitua Jena of Kothiashai village had succumbed to his burn injuries at the SCB Medical, Cuttack, on Thursday.Other trade union leaders Anam Swain, Samir Biswal, Niranjan Mohanty and Babuli Charan Das were present.