The missing Assistant Sub-Inspector (ASI) of police, Nabin alias Narendra Patel, was lynched and his body dumped in a swelling stream near Dudukabahal village under Rajgangpur police limits in Sundargarh district on Saturday night. Seven persons have been arrested till now while police are on the lookout of others involved in the incident.
The incident took place last night when a police team, led by ASI Patel, went to Dudukabahal village to arrest a man wanted in a case of assault. When the accused was apprehended, he raised an alarm.
Patel and driver Birendra Sahu, a home guard, were then caught by the mob and assaulted. They were tied to the police jeep, which was pushed from a bridge into the flooded stream. The driver, luckily, swam to safety.
Patel’s body was fished out by ODRAF team 15 hours later on Sunday from the stream near Garbana village, 3 km away from the spot. The incident has stunned the police and the bereaved family.
IG (WR) Y K Jethwa said the ASI, with four others, had gone to arrest one B Majhi when they were assaulted by a group of villagers. Three of them managed to flee, but the ASI and the driver were brutally beaten up with sticks. Patel had probably succumbed on the spot before being thrown into the stream, Jethwa said. At least 30 persons were involved in the incident.
Sources said Dudukabahal villagers, mostly Christians, had recently assaulted some employees of an electricity distribution company and Majhi was one of the accused.
The Rajgangpur police presented a guard of honour to the deceased ASI before the body was sent to Sundargarh district headquarters hospital.
A pall of gloom descended on Patel’s village Kanaktura in Lefripara block of the district. His wife Suru (50) was inconsolable. Patel is survived by his wife and two sons, Amit (22) and Asim (20).