JAJPUR: Tension prevailed in Patapur under Dharmasala police limits in Jajpur district, as two groups clashed over alleged political enmity on Tuesday. Police said that at least four men from both the groups sustained injuries in the mishap and have been admitted to the local hospital.
Two separate cases have been registered against the people from both the groups involved in the group clash, but no arrests made yet. According to sources, husband of Patapur sarpanch Sandhyarani Nayak, Dusashan Nayak and his brother Arjun Nayak had allegedly kidnapped one Prabhat Das, brother of a ward member of the panchayat and thrashed the latter black and blue last week.
Although an FIR was lodged against the siblings by the victim’s family with the Dharmasala police on the day, the police reportedly did not act on it. So Das’s family and their supporters were aggrieved.The clash took place on the day when Das’s family and their supporters came to know that Dusashan has come to the panchayat office. They locked the panchayat office from outside.
When news of his confinement reached the village, their supporters came for his rescue and a clash broke out between the two groups. They started attacking each other with lathis and stones. As a result, four persons from both the groups sustained injuries.On being informed, Dharmasala police along with senior police officers visited the village with a posse of police and brought the situation under control.Police rescued Dusashan from the panchayat office and brought him to the police station.Locals said the incident was triggered by past political enmity between the two groups.
Patapur sarpanch Sandhyarani Nayak was elected with support from Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) last year. But, she quit the BJP and joined the BJD reportedly without consulting her supporters. Besides, a group of people were not happy with her on joining the ruling party. This seemed to be the reason behind the animosity between the two groups.
Sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) of Jajpur Sanjaya Kumar Pattnaik said police have launched an investigation into the incident. Normalcy was restored in the village, but security has been provided to prevent the situation from escalating.