ROURKELA: After evading arrest for the past 11 days, suspended youth BJP leader Prakash Paswan (35) was arrested by Rourkela police from Bihar on Wednesday evening.
Paswan was the alleged mastermind in sheltering armed criminals at the government-managed Circuit House at Rourkela. He had gone into hiding after police arrested two criminals with arms and live bullets from the Circuit House in the wee hours of August 15.
After the duo’s arrest from the Circuit House, seven more criminals associated with Paswan were apprehended by police with firearms and ammunition.
A top police officer confirmed that Paswan was nabbed from Bihar without exactly specifying the place or district. He said efforts were underway to bring him to Rourkela for interrogation.
It is expected that Paswan’s arrest and interrogation would expose how criminals exploited administrative loopholes to use the government property as a safe haven.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Panposh SDJM court at Rourkela had issued a non-bailable warrant against Paswan, who was Union Tribal Affairs Minister and Sundargarh BJP MP Jual Oram’s representative to the Rourkela Municipal Corporation.