Land Grabbers Held For Assaulting Woman, Demolishing Portion Of House In Bhubaneswar

Bhubaneswar: The Commissionerate Police on Friday arrested three persons for allegedly assaulting a woman and demolishing a part of her house in Patia area of Bhubaneswar.

The accused have been identified as Manas Sahoo (41) of Chandaka, Niranjan Rout (54) of Patia and Jagdish Patsani (28) of Jankia, on the outskirts of Bhubaneswar.

They have been booked under Sections 333, 296, 115(2), 74, 308(2), 310(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita & Sections 25 and 27 of the Arms Act, and remanded to judicial custody.

Police have seized a broken iron grill, a container, one mobile phone, two machetes, and a knife from possession of the accused.

According to Bhubaneswar DCP Prateek Singh, Manas, Niranjan and their associates barged into a house and threatened the house owner, a woman, with dire consequences on Monday afternoon. “They abused the woman, assaulted her and later demolished portions of her house with an earth-moving equipment. As the complainant was recording the demolition, Manas snatched her phone and left the place,” he added.

Investigation revealed the accused persons are land grabbers, who vacate land forcibly for money.

“In this case as well, they were most likely hired by someone to occupy this piece of land. A thorough investigation has been launched and search is on to nab rest of the accused in this case,” the police said.