8 held for attacking govt officials in Odisha

Eight people were arrested for attacking two government officials who were enforcing Covid-19 guidelines in Odisha's Jajpur district, the police said here on Sunday.

Section 144 of CrPC has been imposed in the village after the incident.

Jajpur District Collector Ranjan Kumar Das said a group of villagers attacked the officials and held them captive at Gopinathpur in the Kuakhia police station area on Saturday. The officials were rescued later.

"The Block Development Officer and the tehsildar, on lockdown enforcement duty in the region, were checking people on the streets, when three men without masks fled on a motorbike towards Gopinathpur village," the Collector said.

As the officials pursued them, a group of 50 villagers attacked them.

During interrogation, it was found that one of the youth on the motorbike had attended the Tablighi Jamat congregation in Delhi's Nizamuddin in March. They thought the officials were trying to stop them due to their Nizamuddin link, said Das.

However, Jajpur Superintendent of Police (SP) Charan Singh Meena denied involvement of any Tablighi Jamat meeting returnee. "We have no information about involevement of Nizamuddin returnee in the incident," Meena told IANS.

Earlier, one Nizamuddin returnee from the Jajpur district had tested Covid-19 positive.