Balasore: In a bone-chilling incident, a 33-year-old man was beaten to death on the charges of theft at Inchudi village under Khantapada police limits in Balasore district Friday. Some locals alleged involvement of the sarpanch in the brutal ‘lynching’ of the man. Angry villagers and relatives of the youth reportedly set the house of the sarpanch on fire.
On being informed, two platoons of police force were deployed at the village. DSP Padarbindha Tripathy, Khantapada IIC Bimal Nayak and Sadar police IIC Ashok Nayak rushed to the village and took stock of the situation.
Meanwhile, the investigating team detained the sarpanch’s brother and launched a probe. On Thursday evening, Sanjay Dalei, 33, son of Mukund Dalei, was allegedly caught stealing iron rods installed around a prawn gherry put up by a villager. Infuriated over the theft, the gherry owner along with Sridhar Mahakud, Chema Rout, Sarat Barik, Julia Pradhan, Bapi Mahalik, Tuku Barik, Bhagia Barik, Tuku Mahakud and five others tied the hands of Sanjay and beat him up before taking him to sarpanch Ramani Ranjan Mahalik. The accused again thrashed Sanjay in the presence of the sarpanch. Later, they handed him over to the police.
Seeing his condition, police admitted Sanjay to Khantapada hospital from where he was referred to the DHH, where he succumbed to the injuries. Tension gripped the village as soon as the news of Sanjay’s death spread. Irate relatives burnt tyres and staged a road blockade near the village demanding immediate arrest of the sarpanch and his henchmen who assaulted Sanjay. “Situation is tense. Police forces have been deployed to avoid any untoward incident. Police are on a manhunt to nab the accused,” a senior police official said.