Bhubaneswar: Police on Tuesday arrested BJP functionary and former NSUI state president Itish Pradhan and two of his aides in connection with the alleged assault of YouTuber Tapi Mishra two days ago.
The accused are also alleged to have demanded Rs 50,000 from Mishra, who lodged a police complaint against the attackers two days ago. Itish joined BJP last year after quitting Congress. The other two accused were identified as Biplab Parida and Arpan Mishra.
Police said Tapi and Arpan had some personal issues over a comment on YouTube. Arpan took Itish's help to teach a lesson to Tapi, they said.
"Itish mediated and called Tapi near Saheed Nagar police station, posing as a police officer. The moment Tapi reached near the police station, miscreants started attacking him. Tapi managed to catch hold of one and entered the police station. We received a complaint from him based on which investigation progressed, and we arrested Itish and his two friends," said Dipak Bhuyan, IIC, Saheed Nagar police station.
Police said Arpan is an actor and Biplab is his friend. Both took the help of Itish to sort out the matter. "It has been alleged in the complaint that the trio demanded Rs 50,000 from Tapi. Further investigation is on to verify the allegation. However, they have been booked for giving a false identity, intimidating and beating," Bhuyan added.
Mishra told police that seven to eight people were waiting to attack him near the police station. It has been verified by the police that the phone used to call me belonged to Itish, Mishra said.