Five teams on the lookout for cop assaulters

Bhubaneswar: At least five teams, each consisting of three police personnel, have fanned out across the state to arrest those involved in Sunday night’s attack on some police personnel on duty inside the Saheed Nagar police station and vandalising the premises.
While police have so far managed to arrest two persons, at least 15 others are still on the run. The absconders include BJD’s youth wing leader Prakash Tripathy, who allegedly was the mastermind of the assault.

“We have formed multiple teams and are raiding different places to arrest the culprits. All, including Tripathy, will be arrested,” commissioner of police Satyajit Mohanty told TOI.

Tripathy and his supporters wreaked havoc on Saheed Nagar police station on Sunday night following their alleged clash with three persons over a freak road accident in VSS Nagar.

Though police had brought the three persons to Saheed Nagar police station, Tripathy and his supporters demanded that the cops allow them to beat up the trio. When police resisted, Tripathy and his men allegedly assaulted four police persons, ransacked the station premises and escaped.

Abhay Rout, an assistant sub-inspector (ASI), got six stitches on his head following serious injuries in the attack.

Under fire for failing to round up the hooligans on the spot, police said it was not possible for four personnel, including two constables, to fight back. “We were only four, all unarmed, and they were more than 15. We tried to prevent the mob from creating a ruckus inside the station. We tried to push them outside. When we were handling one group, the other group barged inside the police station and went on the rampage,” a constable said, requesting anonymity.

The other constable said the goons started running after attacking ASI Rout. “We had to deal with the mob. I gave chase, but had to return as our ASI was bleeding profusely. By the time the force from the police reserve and nearby stations arrived, the goons had fled,” he said.

Senior police officers said police stations usually had skeletal staff at night. Besides, constables and lower-rung officers do not have service revolvers. “The attack was not premeditated. It happened suddenly. We would have fortified the police station had we received any input about possible tension,” another senior police officer said.