ROURKELA: Police on Wednesday arrested four persons on charges of assaulting a government officer during a tribal protest which had turned violent at Barkani village in Sundargarh’s Bondamunda last month.
The accused are Bondamunda sarpanch Anita Tirkey, Kapatmunda panchayat samiti member Sushma Oram, leader of displaced tribals Deme Oram and Subhojit Bannerjee, local advocate.
Bondamunda IIC Srikant Khamari said the four were produced in court under various charges including rioting with weapons, unlawful assembly, obstructing government servant from functioning, attempt to murder and criminal intimidation.
On April 19, a mob had clashed with police and administrative personnel after a tribal agitator was crushed to death under the wheels of an excavator during a protest at Barkani village. At least 18 people including eight policemen and Bisra additional tehsildar Purushottam Nayak were injured in the clash.
Police said the arrested persons were accused of assaulting the additional tehsildar and also instigating the mob which was protesting the second rail line of Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) by the South Eastern Railway (SER) through Barkani village.
After the violent protest, law and order situation prevailed for three days and normalcy was restored after the Sundargarh administration agreed to suspend all projects in the region till settlement of pending claims of tribal displaced persons of RSP and SER.
Notably, Deme was among the 22 people who were arrested in March 2022 for obstructing construction of a road over bridge at Kukudagate level-crossing in Bondamunda and clashing with police.