BHUBANESWAR: Amid massive national outrage, Odisha Police tagged the mob assault on two NGO fellows in Rayagada district as a Red Flag case and said its investigation will be monitored by Crime Against Women and Children Wing.
ADG of CAW&CW S Shyni will monitor the case, DGP YB Khurania told mediapersons on Sunday. The team will travel to Rayagada as part of the investigation. If required, they will also visit New Delhi too or connect with the two students via video-conferencing to collect more information.
Sources said the girl stays in New Delhi and the youth is a native of Gujarat. The girl and her friend, both in their early 20s, are pursuing a fellowship with an NGO that works in Daringbadi and Kalahandi. The two were travelling from Daringbadi to Thuamul Rampur block in Kalahandi on a scooter when the incident took place within Kalyansinghpur police limits on June 16 evening.
Sources said the locals targeted the two after allegedly mistaking them as child-lifters as they were carrying two backpacks and speaking in Hindi. The onslaught against them reportedly continued for about half-an-hour.
On receiving the information, local police led by Kalyansinghpur IIC Kalpana Behera immediately rushed to the scene. However, they were outnumbered and struggled to rescue the duo, police said. The mob hurled abuses at the police personnel, assaulted and even threatened to kill them. They even attempted to throttle IIC Behera. However, the police with the assistance of some locals eventually managed to rescue the victims.
A Good Samaritan, Balaram Bag, recalled that he was returning home with his friend when he noticed the hooligans had surrounded the girl and were assaulting her. “A few locals were also trying to protect the girl and the youth. Her dress was torn and a local quickly arranged a towel and provided it to the girl to cover her body,” said Bag.
He said if he and a few other sympathetic individuals had not intervened, created a shield around the two and assisted the police in rescuing them then the matter may have escalated like the mob lynching incident in Bhubaneswar’s Balianta. “The two were whisked away in a police van and I provided my T-shirt to the girl,” he added.
The two injured victims were later shifted to Kalyansinghpur CHC. The attackers did not stop here and they gheraoed the police station, staged a road blockade and even vandalised the CHC. Police have registered three cases for assault on the victims, obstruction of police officers while performing their duties and vandalising of the CHC. Sources said the mob was led by a man identified as Krushna. Police, however, did not confirm whether he is among those arrested.
