Dilip Sethi, The Tehsildar of Pattamundai in Kendrapara district was allegedly thrashed by two miscreants inside his office, on Saturday.
Both the attackers from Kanipal village have been detained by the Pattamundai police following the incident.
As per reports, some farmers were worried about a brick kiln in their area. As per the farmers, the smoke emanating from the kiln is polluting their village air and affecting the farming activities.
They had lodged a complaint in this regard before the Tehsildar a few days back. However, the Tehsildar did not pay any attention towards their grievance and subsequently they staged a protest demanding action against the owner of the brick kiln. However, they alleged that their repeated demands fell in deaf ears and the administration didn’t take any initiative to solve.
Irked over the indifferent attitude of the administration, the protestors met Sethi and asked him about the reason behind the inaction by the administration. Both the sides got into a heated exchange of words. This caused the tension to flare up. Meanwhile, two farmers among the protestors lost their cool and attacked on Sethi.
Following the incident, Sethi lodged an FIR against the attackers at the local police station. The police reached the spot immediately and detained both the protestors. An investigation into the incident has been launched.
“We have already asked the brick kiln owner to stop functioning. The local police and fire station have already been informed about the prevailing situation. However, the farmers were impatient even to listen to anything,” said Sethi.