Bhubaneswar: A day after a raid on an alleged Bangladeshi settlement, Jagatsinghpur district authorities in Odisha on Monday bulldozed a 10-room house constructed illegally on government land at Beheram Basti under Tarikunda panchayat.
The demolition was carried out in the presence of the magistrate and the sub-collector.
According to sources, 30 Bangladeshi nationals were staying in an asbestos-roofed house of a local resident, Siku Khan, in the slum and 18 among them had relocated elsewhere prior to the Sunday raid, when two women were detained and a cache of weapons, including a country-made gun and swords, were seized from the premises.
Jagatsinghpur Collector J Sonal said the group had strategically picked an interior location surrounded by trees. “The administration has taken the matter seriously, the lapses are being probed and accountability will be fixed,” he said.
He further stated that further investigation is underway to ascertain how the group entered the region, their facilitators, and whether they have any links to organised crime.
Jagatsinghpur SP Ankit Kumar Verma said that the raid on Sunday was conducted by a team led by an additional SP following specific intelligence inputs. “The women here initially resisted the raid and the team was attacked in which the additional SP and a lady constable were injured. A case was registered in this regard under the strictest of possible sections and those detained were forwarded to court last night. A team has been formed to nab the main accused. Two suspected Bangladeshis are in our custody and more details will emerge post-verification,” he added.
