BJP demands Naveen''s resignation over collector abduction

Kendrapara (Orissa), Feb 17 (PTI) BJP today demandedimmediate resignation of Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaikfor the failure to trace the abducted Malkangiri districtcollector.

"Law enforcing agency has failed to protect the headof a Maoist-infested district. Patnaik, who heads thegovernment and holds the home portfolio, has lost his right tocontinue as chief minister," said Jual Oram, state unitpresident of BJP, an erstwhile ally of the ruling BJD.

"Nowhere in the country has an IAS officer been kidnappedin the past. This unfortunate episode has added yet anotherfeather to the CM''s inglorious cap," Oram told reporters here.

The incident, he said, had exposed the communication gapbetween the security and police personnel and governmentofficials.

"How could a collector of a hyper-sensitive area beallowed to go without armed escort? Our party feels it mightbe a drama enacted by Patnaik government to deflect publicattention from the multi-crore dal scam," he said.

The 30-year-old district collector R V Krishna and ajunior engineer were abducted by Maoists when they went to apublic interaction camp at Badapada in Chitrakonda borderingAndhra Pradesh yesterday evening.