DHENKANAL: A day after 29 rooms of 21 families in Kamadhenukote village were set afire by a defeated candidate and his supporters, police arrested three persons on Monday. They are Basia Barik, Baruna Barik and Khagswar Rout. The main accused and the defeated sarpanch candidate, Pratap Swain is yet to be arrested.
Following the incident, an administrative team led by Collector Bishnu Prasad Panda visited the village and interacted with the affected villagers. After the counting of votes on Saturday evening, it was revealed that sarpanch candidate Manorama Pradhan had reportedly defeated her rival Pratap by 24 votes. Following this, Pratap with his supporters reached the village on Sunday morning and allegedly set afire 29 rooms of 21 families, mostly belonging to Dalits.
The Collector said the district administration had already released ` 2.10 lakh to the affected 21 families
(` 10,000 each) and the provision of free kitchen has been extended to seven days. Polythene sheets and clothes have been provided to them. He said 13 partially-constructed Indira Awas Yojana (IAY) houses in the village will be completed soon and allotted to as many affected villagers and the remaining will get new houses under special IAY scheme.