Security removed from outside Pandian’s residence in Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: Days after BJD’s poll debacle in Odisha, a temporary police outpost and electronic barricades set up outside the residence of former bureaucrat V K Pandian in Bhubaneswar have been removed.

According to sources, besides withdrawal of more than 30 police personnel who were reportedly deployed at the police outpost, an electronic barricade installed outside the government quarters for enhanced security of Pandian and his family have also been dismantled.

Pandian, who was appointed the 5T (transformational initiatives) and Nabin Odisha Chairman after he took voluntary retirement from bureaucracy and joined BJD in November 2023, had in a video shared on his Instagram handle on Sunday declared that he was retiring from active politics.

“Now consciously I decide to withdraw myself from active politics. I am sorry if I have hurt anyone on this journey. I am sorry if this campaign narrative against me has had a part to play in BJD’s loss,” Pandian said in the video announcing his retirement.

Pandian’s bureaucrat wife Sujata Karthikeyan is also on six-month childcare leave since May 31.