Bhubaneswar, Jan 8 (IANS): BJP's national spokesperson and Bhubaneswar MP Aparajita Sarangi on Friday sought a status report from the Director General Police (DGP) on the alleged murder of 17 party workers in Odisha.

In a letter to the DGP, Sarangi listed out the instances of political violence and murder of BJP workers in the state. She said instances of political violence, especially against BJP workers, have seen an upward trend in the past few years.

"The BJP workers can not be the victims of political vendetta. It is the duty of the police to ensure law and order and prevent continued perpetration of such heinous crimes. If the state government fails to do so, it will not to be far when we will see West Bengal-like scenario in Odisha," said the MP, a former bureaucrat.

Sarangi said Odisha has been witnessing increasing crime rate and disproportionately low conviction rate.

"In all the murders, either the culprits have not been nabbed or have got bail because of poor investigation," she alleged.

The letter from the BJP MP came at a time when the party is mounting pressure on the state government to take action against Law Minister Pratap Jena over the gruesome murder of two BJP workers, Kulamani Baral and Divyasing Baral, a few days back. The party alleged that the two BJP workers were killed at the behest of Jena.

Kulamani Baral was in-charge of the Salepur mandal of the BJP and former chairman of the Mahanga panchayat samiti. The law minister represents the Mahanga Assembly constituency.