PS member death: Erasama IIC transferred

Jagatsinghpur: Taking prompt action against alleged dereliction of duty on the part of the police, Jagatsinghpur superintendent of police (SP) on Thursday transferred the IIC of Erasama police station in connection with the death of Panchayat Samiti (PS) member Ranjan Swain.

On Thursday, irate locals ransackedthe Erasama police station and the local hospital following the death of Swain. The villagers termed the death of Swain as a murder and blamed police inaction for the death of the Panchayat Samiti member.

Besides, the locals also staged a road blockade at the police station square by burning tyres on the road and ransacked two police vans.

Ranjan Swain, a member of Niadi Panchayat Samiti, had gone to attend the Panchayat Samiti meeting on Wednesday evening. When he did not return to his house, his family members began a frantic search. After an hour-long search, they found Swain lying unconscious under Kulida bridge on the Ersama-Ambiki road and rushed him to the Ersama Community Health Centre (CHC).

As his condition began to deteriorate, family members decided to shift him to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack. But he died on the way to the hospital on Thursday morning.