Throwing an open challenge to the police, the stone mafia on Thursday attacked the members of an Enforcement Team of Ranpur tehsil during a raid. One of the members of the team sustained grievous injuries in the attack and was admitted to a hospital.
The Enforcement Team was at the spot to raid following a tip-off about the illegal stone mining at Kusapalla village under Patia gram panchayat of Ranpur block in Nayagarh district.
Enraged by the raid, the mafia allegedly attacked the officials with sticks and iron rods and pelted stones at them. Based on a complaint by Ranpur tehsildar, Chandpur police registered a case and launched a manhunt to nab the miscreants who are on the run after the incident.
“The mafia got into a fight with our enforcement team during the raid. One of our members was injured and was admitted to the hospital. The mafia fled after attacking our members,” said Ranpur tehsildar.
Worth mentioning, there have been several reports of attacks on tehsil officials during raids in Nayagarh district.