Corona Crisis: Nizamuddin Returnee, Villagers Attack & Detain Officials In Odisha’s Jajpur

Jajpur: Police have detained a Nizamuddin returnee and his two associates for attacking two government officials deployed to enforce COVID-19 guidelines in Jajpur district.

Police said the three accused had led a group of villagers to attack the officials and then held them captive at Gopinathpur in Kuakhia police station area on Saturday.

According to reports, Jajpur Collector Ranjan Kumar Das and other officials were overseeing the implementation of the lockdown guidelines and mandatory wearing of masks.

“When the BDO and tehsildar were checking people on the streets, three unmasked men in a motorbike did not stop and fled towards Gopinathpur,” the collector said.

When the two officials chased them to the village, the trio allegedly led a mob to attack them and held them captive, he added.

Later, the two officials were rescued by policemen.

During interrogation, one of the accused confessed that he had attended the Tablighi Jamaat in Delhi’s Nizamuddin in March. The accused thought that the officials were trying to stop them due to their Nizamuddin link.

The Nizamuddin returnee and his two associates were detained and kept in quarantine. The returnee’s contact tracing will be done after the test of his swab sample, police said.

Notably, of Odisha’s 61 coronavirus cases, at least six positive cases had links to the Nizamuddin event.

As many as 42 Nizamuddin returnees in the state have voluntarily come forward for coronavirus test following an appeal by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. However, the person detained on Saturday was not one of them, an official said.