Absconding rape accused Odisha VLW arrested during Vigilance raid

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Keonjhar, Oct 21:

A suspended Village Level Worker (VLW) cum Panchayat Extension Officer (PEO) of Dhanurjayapur gram panchayat under Jhumpura police limits in Odisha’s Keonjhar district accused of raping a woman has been arrested today during a Vigilance raid.

According to reports, the sleuths conducted simultaneous raids at four places in a case pertaining to a disproportionate assets case. While the Vigilance officials were conducting raids, Baria police raided Mahanta’s house and arrested him. The rape accused was on the run since long after a complaint was filed by the victim in April this year.

The Vigilance officials detected over Rs 2.73 crore during the raid.

It may be recalled that woman employee of the block development officer’s office of Jhumpura in the district had leveled serious charges of rape and blackmail against two of her male colleagues— ibekananda Pradhan, a Junior Engineer (JE) and Ramachandra Mahanta, a Village Level Worker (VLW).

The victim had further alleged that the duo had video-graphed the act and had been repeatedly raping her by blackmailing her to make the video clip public.

Also Read: Odisha woman alleges rape by office colleagues

Following the complaint, Mahanta was on the run to evade arrest. However, his luck went bust today.