18 arrested for manhandling officials on duty

Sambad English Bureau Published On : Oct 7, 2013 at 11:52 PM

Reported by Santosh Jagdev

Bhubaneswar, Oct 7:

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At least 18 people including four women of Gadakana area in the city were arrested by the Commissionerate Police for allegedly manhandling and holding officials of the BMC, BDA and General Administration hostage for over three hours on Monday.

The police-public face-off took place at Rangamatia when a team of officials started to evict a patch of encroached government land there to demarcate space for the Centre-sponsored Rajiv Awas Yojna (RAY), which envisages construction of concrete houses and other basic urban facilities for slum dwellers.

While the eviction drive was under way, around 200 people from the Gadakana village, allegedly incited by the local land mafia, held the officials, including a senior OAS officer, hostage for three hours. They even allegedly abused and manhandled them, said sources.

Forces from four different police stations rushed to the spot and rescued the officials and ensured the eviction drive was carried out without further trouble.