Tata Power officials enter woman's home without permission in Odisha, detained by angry villagers

Tension ran high at Gulamundhakata village under Bangriposi police limits in Odisha’s Mayurbhanj district after six officials of the Tata Power North Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL) allegedly entered into the house of a woman when she was alone.

The woman, who was alone at her house with her baby, was alarmed after seeing the officials who neither had their ID cards nor showed any other official documents. Terrified, she fled out of the house and alerted other villagers working in the nearby paddy field.

Irate over the incident, the villagers subsequently detained them for several hours. The situation worsened after villagers refused to let them go and demanded legal action against the six officials. A confrontation between the villagers and the officials led to injuries, The New Indian Express reported.

On being informed, Bangriposi IIC Rojalin Behera along with her team rushed to the village and brought the situation under control. Bangiriposi BDO Manas Ranjan Patra and some BJP party workers also arrived at the village and took stock of the situation.

The villagers let go of all the detainees after the intervention of the police and the BDO. The woman accused the officials of entering her home when she was alone. Shockingly, they even followed her when she fled out of the house and ran for help.

Meanwhile, TPNODL refuted the allegations and said that it was a routine checkup and employees had entered the property with the consent of the consumer's son.

“Led by an engineer, the team detected illegal meter bypassing at the residence of Santosh Kumar Giri. With consent from the consumer’s son, our female security officer entered the premises to verify the load,” their letter read.

It further added, “During the inspection, our female staff saw the consumer’s daughter-in-law rushing into the kitchen and followed her suspecting she might be hiding some illegal equipment. The woman however exited through a side door and walked towards the paddy field despite being asked why she was leaving suspiciously.”

She later led a mob of approximately 200 people who assaulted the employees, it added.