Four persons including two Sarpanchs were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the brutal assault of a 17-year-old boy and his father on theft charges in a kangaroo court in Pattamundai block of Kendrapara district recently.
The arrests were made after a disturbing video of the merciless thrashing of the father-son duo on charge of theft of cash around Rs 2 lakh went viral on the social media, triggering massive outrage in the locality.
Those arrested in the case are Sarpanchs of Bijay Nagar Panchayat, Somnath Tripathy and Balipal Panchayat, Panchanan Swain, as well as the owner of a petrol pump and his son.
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According to sources, the minor boy was working at the petrol pump located at Bijay Nagar area under Mahakalpada police limits in the district. Recently, the owner of the filling station alleged that cash nearly Rs 2 lakh had been stolen from the station cash box.
Suspecting the boy of stealing the cash, a kangaroo court was convened where he and his father were brutally assaulted by the two Sarpanchs, owner of the petrol pump, his son and one Tapas Pradhan, husband of Balipal Samiti member.
“The 17-year-old innocent boy worked at the filling station. He was falsely accused in the cash stealing case. The petrol pump owner with the help of two Sarpanchs and husband of a Samiti member assaulted him and his father mercilessly,” said a woman.
The woman along with hundreds of women had staged protest and blocked road near the petrol pump that led to arrested of the four accused. They called off their agitation after the arrest of the accused persons.