Binjharpur: Two days after some villagers assaulted a woman revenue inspector (RI) and her subordinate while assessing property loss due to Fani in Uttarkul panchayat of this block in Jajpur district, the police arrested one of the culprits Saturday.
The accused, Achyut Pradhan, belongs to Kuanrpur. A manhunt is on to nab the others involved, IIC Shiba Charan Behera said.
Police registered a case under various sections of IPC as well as the SC/ST Act and produced the accused in a court.
The incident occurred when RI Anita Samad and her subordinate Pramod Nath Sharma of Pritipur revenue circle had gone to Paikapada Wednesday to assess property loss due to Fani.
After seeing the revenue officials the villagers locked up the RI’s two-wheeler and asked them why they had visited the village.
They pushed her and accused the revenue officials of misappropriating funds in the name of loss assessment. The villagers said they had not received any assistance after the Titli cyclonic storm although an assessment was done.
The angry villagers thrashed the RI when she objected. Later, they tied up Pramod Nath Sharma to a tree and beat him up.
The villagers detained the RI and Nath Sharma remained tied up for four hours before the police intervened. Alakunda OIC Ganesh Chandra Ghadai rushed to the spot and rescued the RI and the revenue official from the villagers.
After their release the two met Binjharpur tehsildar Minati Jagdev and informed her about their ordeal. The tehsildar lodged a complaint at Binjharpur police station. Police registered a case and arrested the accused late Friday night, the IIC added.
PNN