Phulbani: Residents of Meramaha village in Kandhamal district are now living in the face of fear following the recent attack on Inspector-in-charge of Bramhanigaon Police Station, Ranjit Muni.
Almost all the male residents of the village have fled from their homes and are now spending days in the forest to avoid possible police action, alleged the women in the village.
“Not a single man is now staying in the village in fear of arrest. We along with our children are also moving places as we are in panic following the huge deployment of police force here,” said a local.
As per reports, police have arrested six persons following the brutal attack on Muni who faced the wrath of public during a raid on a gambling den in the area a couple of days back.
A delegation of elected representatives from eight panchayats in the block recently held a meeting for restoring peace and preventing further police action. The team visited the village to enquire about the circumstances that propelled the villagers to attack the police team and also the reason behind the counter attack by the cops.
“Many people are now staying in forest out of fear. We will soon meet the Superintendent of Police to resolve the matter,” said Arati Mallick, Sarpanch of Gadapur Panchayat.
Daringbadi Block Chairman, Ramakant Baliarsingh said police is intentionally harassing people and picking up by making false allegations against them.
“There is only one police station for eight panchayats. The residents are fed up with such atrocity by police personnel,” said Baliarsingh.
On November 1, Ranjit Muni, the IIC of Bramhanigaon police station was attacked by a mob when he had reportedly gone to conduct a raid in Meramaha village under Baliguda block following information about gambling activities.
(Edited By Suryakant Jena)
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