Puri district’s Konark Additional Tehsildar Dipak Swain was injured critically after being attacked by timber mafia at Kanpur village in the district on Sunday.
Swain suffered fractures on his right hand and sustained multiple injuries on his body.
He was admitted to a Konark hospital and later shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital after his condition deteriorated.
A group of 10 persons attacked the officer when he seized some timbers piled at roadside near Kanpur, sources said.
He noticed the illegally-collected wood when he was travelling by his two-wheeler. He hired a tractor and seized the timbers, but some locals resisted him. As the officer inquired about the timbers, the locals attacked him with wooden planks.
“When I tried to shift the timbers to the tehsil office, local ward member Bhaskar Rout and one Narayan Khatoi of the village attacked me and pushed me. I fell down and suffered fractures on my hand,” Swain said.
He lodged a complaint at the Ramachandi police station. However, police attempted to compromise the case instead of arresting the accused, Swain alleged.