Bhubaneswar: A youth lost his life reportedly for raising his voice against illegal drug trade in his village on the outskirts of the Capital city here.
The deceased was identified as Anil Jena of Bahadalpur under Khandagiri police station here.
The notorious drug peddlers also fired bullets at Jena’s father Abhimanyu who has been undergoing treatment at AIIMS. Abhimanyu was struggling for life till the last news came in.
According to sources, Anil vehemently opposed the rampant drug trade in the village and the adjoining areas. He was also planning to stage a dharna Friday urging the administration to stop the rampant drug peddling in
the locality.
However, the main accused, reportedly two siblings, killed him Thursday evening.
The accused brothers, Bapi and Happy Sahoo, were also allegedly involved in numerous cases of murder, loot and other serious crimes. Recently, they surreptitiously offered brown sugar to Anil’s nephew during a feast on Diwali. Following the incident, Anil had intensified his efforts to hold the protest rally against the brown sugar trade.
Sources claimed that the duo along with their local partner also threatened Anil that they would kill him if he did not desist from his plan to stage a dharna.
The shooters came on motorcycles, called Anil and later shot him. Meanwhile, his father who was near the spot was also shot by the miscreants when he came for Anil’s rescue.
Meanwhile, two platoons of police force have been deployed at the spot as tension gripped the area following the incident.