As many as 12 Samiti members have been allegedly locked up by police in a hotel at Barakul in Balugaon ahead of the Chhatrapur block chairman election. A video of the Samiti members crying for help from the balcony of the Panthanivas has gone viral.
As per the allegations, police have locked up and detained the Samiti members to bar them from casting their votes in the election. The Samiti members have also threatened to kill themselves if not released immediately.
“They (police) have taken our mobile phone and not allowing us to go outside. They are harassing us. We need to cast our vote for the chairperson election today. Please rescue us,” urged Narendrapur Samiti member Sonali Senapati.
She further alleged that while they (the Samiti members) were on vacation and staying there (in the Panthanivas) police barged into their rooms at midnight and took away their phones.
Another ‘detained’ Samiti member alleged, “The SP and other cops had come last night and threatened us. They also took away two of our leaders and so far, we don’t have any clue regarding their whereabouts.”
Earlier, a high drama was witnessed during the Chhatrapur block chairperson election on March 12 when ahead of the poll, it was claimed that six Samiti members were infected with Covid-19 and they were shifted to some unknown place by the local administration.
Following this, the block chairperson election was cancelled. However, after massive protest in the region, the chairperson election was scheduled to be held on April 2.
Later in the day, the samiti members were reportedly freed by the district administration. Besides, Chhatrapur SDPO refuted the allegations of the samiti members being locked up and detained by the cops and said, "The police are there for the security arrangements. We are investigating into the allegation of the samiti members' mobile seizure."