Nayagarh Collector among 4 booked for seeking financial favour to the tune of Rs 25 Lakh

Ranpur: Nayagarh district Collector Rabindra Nath Sahu and three others were booked today for allegedly seeking financial favour of Rs 25 lakh from a laterite stone mine owner under Ranpur tehsil and Chandpur police limits. They were booked based on a directive from Orissa High Court, Cuttack.

The case was registered, acting on an FIR lodged on April 11 by the 35-year-old mine owner named Sushant Kumar Barad from Champagada. The other three are Dillip Kumar Samantaray from Bajrakote of Ranpur, Deepak Kumar Routray from Ostapada and Ganeswar Mandhata from Champagada.

According to an official in Chandpur police station, the four including Collector Sahu and a few others had earlier visited the mine of Barad at Mayurjhalia locality on January 26 at around 3 pm. Allegedly, Dillip, Deepak and Ganeswar scolded Barad in filthy language in presence of the Collector.

The three also threatened Barad with dire consequences saying that his mine will be permanently closed in case he fails to pay the asked amount of money, the FIR of the mine owner mentioned.

Initially, Barad had lodged FIR with Chandpur police and then appealed to Nayagarh Superintendent of Police Alekha Chandra Pahi seeking intervention as the local police did not take any step in this regard. After Barad failed in getting justice, the victim mine owner recently moved to the High Court.

The case has been registered under Sections 294, 506, 385, 167, 181, 200, 209, 219 and 34 of the IPC, the senior police official said.

When contacted, the District Collector Sahu refuted the charges saying, “The allegations framed against me are entirely baseless. I neither know the complainant mine owner nor have I ever seen him.”