JAGATSINGHPUR: As many as five persons were arrested for attacking personnel of Raghunathpur police during an eviction drive at Bhasilpur village on Saturday. Sources said the accused had encroached upon government land on the stretch between the residence of one Nanda Bhoi and Mathura Bhoi in the village. Despite notification from revenue officials, the encroachers did not vacate the land due to which the locals were facing inconvenience.
The villagers had filed a writ petition in the Orissa High Court in this regard following which the local administration and tehsildar were ordered to evict the land. When an eviction team led by Raghunathpur tehsildar Rupalika Das and accompanied by police personnel reached the village to clear the land of encroachers, a woman Chita Bhoi lied down in front of a proclean machine used to dig and level the ground.
Eyewitnesses said suddently Chita and other women protestors started assaulting the team and during the scuffle, five police personnel were injured and admitted to Raghunathpur CHC for treatment. After the incident, Das lodged an FIR against the accused basing on which Chita along with Anjali Bhoi, Sarala Bhoi, Mangala Bhoi and Manoj Bhoi were arrested.