Odisha: Minor among 9 held for assaulting 2 Dalit men in Ganjam
The accused had assaulted two Dalit men by tonsuring half their heads and making them crawl on their knees on suspicion of smuggling cattle
Bhubaneswar/Berhampur (Odisha), Jun 24 (PTI) Odisha Police on Tuesday arrested nine people, including a juvenile, for their alleged involvement in assaulting and humiliating two Dalit men by tonsuring half their heads and making them crawl on their knees in Ganjam district.
According to Niti Shekhar, DIG, Southern Range, the accused will be produced before a court soon.
The incident, which occurred at Jahada in Kharigumma village in Dharakote police station area on Sunday, triggered widespread outrage in political and social circles after purported videos of the assault went viral.
PTI, however, could not independently verify the authenticity of the video.
Two Dalit men were detained by the accused persons on suspicion of cattle smuggling. Their heads were tonsured, they were physically beaten up and forced to crawl on their knees and consume grass and drain water after they refused to pay Rs 30,000 as demanded by the accused persons, a police officer said.
The arrested persons were identified as Siba Shankar Mohapatra (25), Satya Sahu (20), Bainath Bisoyi (23), Om Gouda (23), Ganapati Polai (36), Santosh Dakua (30), Shankar Das (25) and Narayan Dakua (30) along with a juvenile, he said.
"Some other people were also involved in the case and the search was on to nab them," Aska SDPO Santosh Kumar Jena told reporters on Tuesday.
The victims were identified as Babula Nayak (54) and Bulu Nayak (42) of Singipur village. The duo was transporting the cattle to gift Babula's daughter at the wedding as per tradition.
The police have registered a case at Dharakote police station under different sections of the BNS and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocity) Act, 1989, the officer said.
Ganjam Superintendent of Police Suvendu Kumar Patra said that Jena was investigating the matter.
The motive of the crime was extortion of money in the name of cow smuggling, he said.
"On 22.06.2025, at village Jahada, two individuals from Singipur were allegedly abused, assaulted, and forcibly tonsured by Rajesh Samal and others," the Ganjam SP said in an X post.
Meanwhile, a group of officers led by Bhanjanagar Sub Collector Uma Shankar Behera visited the houses of victims at Singipur village and provided Rs 10,000 as aid to each of their families from the Red Cross fund for medical expenditure. Earlier, police had sent them to Dharakote hospital for treatment.
"During our visit, the actual victims were not in the homes. We talked with their family members and assured them that all the accused persons would be arrested by the police, as the district administration has taken the issue seriously," Behera said.
Among others, the block development officer, tahsildar and district welfare officer also visited the victims' houses.
The Congress expressed anguish over the alleged torture of the two Dalit men and constituted a fact-finding committee to investigate the incident.
At a press conference in Bhubaneswar, BJD spokesperson Lenin Mohanty termed the incident as "barbaric" and said it has brought shame to Odisha.
"It is a glaring example of the breakdown of law and order in the state. The current insensitive leadership continues to ignore such incidents, leading to complete administrative paralysis," the BJD leader said, demanding exemplary punishment for the culprits involved in the incident.
The BJD said if the state's BJP government fails to take firm and proactive action, the regional party as a responsible opposition, will be compelled to launch statewide agitation in the coming days. PTI