Baripada: Residents beat up a sarpanch candidate and tied him with ropes and detained him after they allegedly spotted him distributing cash at Banakati village under Tangasola panchayat of Badasahi block in Mayurbhanj district, late Saturday night.
The detained sarpanch candidate was identified as Dasarathi Murmu. After reports surfaced, supporters of Murmu detained the supporters of the opposite party candidate, it was learnt.
The twin incidents have sparked tension in the area. On being informed, police rushed to the spot Sunday morning and successfully placated the villagers and freed Murmu from detention.
Locals alleged that Murmu was moving from house to house and distributing cash to influence the voters in violation of model code of conduct. Later normalcy was restored in the village.
However, no complaint had been filed in the police station when the reports came. The incident occurred when Murmu visited Banakati village late Saturday night.
Some youths spotted him distributing cash and detained him. They later thrashed him for the act and tied him with ropes and detained him for the whole night.
The video of the incident has gone viral on social media. On being informed, Murmu’s supporters also detained the supporters of the opposite candidate the whole night.
PNN