PURI: With the arrest of 18 more persons on Sunday, the total number of those apprehended for their involvement in violence during Puri bandh on October 3 has gone up to 41. The bandh was observed protesting queue system in Sri Jagannath temple. Town police had registered criminal cases against 50 persons, including Jagannath Sena convenor Priyadarshan Pattnaik and bandh organisers Binayak Dasmahapatra, Bhabani Dasmahapatra, Damodar Mahasuar, Somnath Khuntia, Gopal Panda and Prasanna Dash following a complaint filed by Town police station ASI Jitendra Kumar Gumansingh.
Of the 50 accused, 11 were nabbed on Sunday. Besides, Singhadwar police registered a criminal case against scores of miscreants who had attacked the temple office and looted cash and valuables, including electronic gadgets.
The complaint was filed by Jagannath Temple policeman Narayan Bahadur. Seven persons, including two Sri Jagannath temple pratihari servitors, were arrested by police. All of them were produced before the court of the sub-divisional judicial magistrate (SDJM) and remanded in jail custody on Sunday. A total of 19 criminal cases have been registered till date by the police against more than 200 persons, sources said. The figure is likely to go up as more evidence has been gathered after analysing the CCTV and electronic media footage at various places of Badadanda.
The accused have been booked under Sections 143, 144, 353, 147, 148, 120 (b), 341, 294, 323, 325, 506, 307, 332, 305, 149 and 34 of IPC.Sources said police teams have rushed to Cuttack to nab Damodar Mahasuar, the main accused in the case. Four special teams were raiding the hideouts of other accused. Several servitors may be arrested in the next 24 hours.
In a related development, Puri SP Sarthak Sarangi suspended five police personnel, including a havildar, for dereliction of duty. They were in charge of security at Revenue Minister Maheswar Mohanty’s residence but were absent when the attack on his house took place during the bandh.