ROURKELA: RN Pali police took on remand the two criminals arrested from the government-owned Circuit House at Panposh along with an arms dealer for further questioning on Wednesday.
Bikash Dungri and his associate Narayan Sahu were reportedly using the state-managed guesthouse as a hideout for more than 20 days before their arrest on August 15. Two firearms, as many magazines and nine bullets were recovered from their possession.
Panposh SDPO Sushant Das said two cases of assault were registered at RN Pali police station on the basis of a complaint filed by one Abhishek Dhal. During investigation, police received a tip-off about presence of an accused near the Circuit House. Subsequently, police raided Room No 107 of the Circuit House and arrested Bikash and Narayan Sahu with the arms and ammunition.
The SDPO said basing on the information provided by the two criminals, arms dealer Rajesh Sahu and four others - Rajesh Srivastava, Vicky Sharma, Sagar Sahu and Kartar Singh - were arrested. Two more firearms, magazines and bullets were recovered from them. Another criminal Jagdish Das managed to escape and efforts are underway to nab him, he said.
Notably, the Circuit House room was booked on July 21 reportedly in the name of an influential BJP leader. The recently-renovated Circuit House is in the charge of a Nizarat officer. Panposh sub-collector is the competent authority responsible for management of the facility which has been outsourced to a private agency.
The SDPO said a requisition was sent to the office of Panposh sub-collector CK Mallick for register logs, CCTV footage and other relevant records to ascertain in whose name the room was booked and find out if others were involved in protecting and patronising the criminals. He said the outsourced agency too has been brought under the ambit of investigation.
Meanwhile, state general secretary of the BJP’s Mahila Morcha Latika Patnaik and senior party leaders met Rourkela SP Nitesh Wadhwani and urged police to adopt a zero tolerance approach against criminals and government officers and politicians harbouring them. “The BJP seeks strong action against those involved in booking the Circuit House room and harbouring the criminals,” the BJP leaders said.
The Congress has also demanded a through investigation and strict action in the case.