6 Arrested For Attack On DFO By Stone Mafia In Odisha’s Dhenkanal

Dhenkanal: Six persons were arrested in connection with an attack on a Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district allegedly by stone mine mafia while patrolling near a forest.

According to reports, DFO Prakash Chand Gogineni and his team were undertaking a night patrol near Kurumatanga stone mine when they intercepted a truck. The truck was reportedly loaded with stones illegally mined from the area.

As the driver of the vehicle failed to show the required documents about transportation of stones, the forest team tried to seize the vehicle.

However, they were allegedly attacked by stone smugglers and one of them hurled a brick at the forest officials, causing injuries to the DFO. The gang members then fled the scene.

The DFO was rushed to the district headquarters hospital in Dhenkanal for treatment. A complaint was lodged with the Sadar police basing on which a case was registered and six accused persons were arrested after preliminary investigation.

Further investigation is underway and efforts are on to track others involved in the incident.

Those arrested were identified as Abhimanyu Rout, Sudhansu Rout, Prabhakar Moharana, Jatia Dehury, Pradeep Swain and Akhaya Behera.