Bhubaneswar, Jun 26 (PTI) — The Congress has called for the immediate arrest of the main suspect in the assault of two Dalit men in Odisha’s Ganjam district, describing the event as a significant breakdown of law enforcement.
The victims, Babula Nayak and Bulu Nayak from Singipur panchayat, were allegedly tonsured, assaulted, and forced to crawl on their knees after accusations of cattle smuggling at Jahada in Kharigumma village, under the jurisdiction of Dharakote police station, last Sunday.An investigation team from the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), led by Rama Chandra Kadam, visited the affected men and engaged with locals and police to discuss the incident.
In remarks to the media on Thursday following his visit to the location, Kadam explained that the victims were transporting cows by auto from Hariour to their village when a group of self-proclaimed ‘cow protectors’ intercepted them at Kharigumma.
“The mob demanded Rs 30,000 from the duo.When they refused, they were assaulted, tonsured, and forced to crawl on their knees while being coerced to eat grass and drink drain water,” he alleged.
Alarmingly, despite the attack occurring in broad daylight, no police officers intervened, even though the local police station is merely 6 km away from the scene, noted Kadam, who is the Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader.
“These attackers have been collecting money from the public under the guise of being ‘cow protectors’, and a senior minister from the BJP government is allegedly shielding them,” he charged.Kadam pointed out that the authorities had not yet apprehended the chief suspect, Rajesh Samal, who reportedly evaded capture following the incident.
Interestingly, police have already arrested nine individuals, among them a juvenile, for their supposed roles in the incident.
The Congress has further called for each victim to be granted a compensation of Rs 10 lakh.Concurrently, the AICC has dispatched an additional team led by the party’s SC wing head and former minister Rajendra Pal Gautam, along with MPs Manoj Kumar Ram and Vamsi Krishna Gaddam, and ex-OPCC chief Jayadev Jena, to conduct a ground-level inquiry.
This team will engage with the victims and other concerned parties and compile a comprehensive report for submission to the opposition leader, Rahul Gandhi, a party spokesperson said.
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