Dhenkanal: A tehsildar was critically injured in an attack by members of a mafia while the former tried to prevent illegal shifting of soil in Odisha’s Dhenkanal district on Friday.
According to sources, Parjang tehsildar Subhra Patel had gone to Patharkhamb village to investigate into the information that some people were trying to lift soil from a government land with a JCB machine. On reaching the spot, the tehsildar took the photographs of the people indulged in illegal work.
Enraged over it, a group of 8 to 10 people attacked Patel and tried to run JCB vehicle over him. When revenue inspector Alok Kumar Lenka rushed to the spot to rescue the tehsildar, he was also beaten up by the gang.
Later, the locals rushed both officers to Kamakhyanagar sub-divisional hospital. On being informed, Parjang MLA Nrusingh Charan Sahu and Kamakhyanagar deputy collector Jyoti Shankar Sahu went to the hospital and enquired about the condition of the injured officers.
A police team went to the village and seized the tractor used by the gang to transport the soil. But by the time they reached there, the gang members had already fled. The police have registered a case and launched an investigation.
