In an incident that once again showcases the state of lawlessness in Odisha, a group of locals from Santragadia village under Nilagiri Block of Balasore district on Monday intercepted a police van and freed a youth who was arrested on charges of attacking a web journalist during the third phase Panchayat polls on Sunday.
The villagers took away the accused soon after releasing him from police custody using force.
Based on an FIR lodged by the journalist identified as Lelin Kumar Dey on Sunday, the Nilagiri Police had reached the village on Monday morning and arrested the youth, identified as Ajay Mahalik, following a frantic search in the area. Mahalik, who is a member of the BJD, was present at a press conference at the local party office when he was rounded up by the police.
The BJD had arranged the press conference to clarify that no journalist had been attacked yesterday and the allegations levelled against the party workers were false.
However, while the cops were taking the accused to the police station, more than 50 villagers gheraoed the police vehicle near Santragadia Chhak and forcibly released the youth from custody.
In the end, the police team returned empty-handed to the police station without making any arrest in connection with the incident.
As per reports, on Sunday evening, Dey was clicking photographs at a campaign rally of the BJD at Zone number-2 of Kanpur village under Nilagiri Gram Panchayat in the district when he was attacked by some members of the ruling party in Odisha.
Dey alleged that the party’s Sarpanch candidate Bhaskar Behera, son of Zilla Parishad candidate Subhendu Sekhar Jena and incumbent Zilla Parishad members Shradhanjali Jena, Soumya Ranjan Jena, Ajay Mahalik, and Santosh Kumar Brahma abused him before beating him up. The hoodlums also threatened him with dire consequences.
“Around 7 pm I was covering the BJD campaigning in the village. Some people caught hold of me tightly from behind. Sarpanch candidate Bhaskar Behera, Zilla Parishad candidate Subhendu Sekhar Jena and present Zilla Parishad member Shradhanjali Jena’s son Soumya Ranjan Jena started hitting me on my chest while Ajay Mahalik was holding my hands from behind,” alleged Dey.
The reaction of the police on the forceful release of the accused from custody is still to be obtained.