Cuttack: Amid rumours of child-lifting racket being active in Odisha, a man reportedly jumped into Mahanadi River after being attacked on suspicion of being a child thief on Tuesday night.
According to sources, some locals spotted the person roaming in Jobra area last night and tried to catch hold of him. Later, the man somehow managed to escape from the clutches of the mob and jumped into Mahanadi river.
Being informed about the incident, a team of ODRAF personnel rushed to the spot and rescued the victim and admitted him to SCB Medical College and Hospital here. The person is stated to be mentally unsound.
On Tuesday, Director General of Police (DGP) Rajendra Prasad Sharma had issued a 7-point advisory urging people to refrain from posting existence of child lifting gangs in Odisha on social media. Stating that such information is absolutely baseless and false, the DGP had assured the citizens that no such incident has occurred in any part of the state till date.
However, such incidents have been reported from some areas in Rayagada, Ganjam, Nayagarh, Kendrapara, Balasore and Cuttack districts.
In Kendrapara district, five youths, including a 55-year-old man, were thrashed by the people in Rajnagar, Pattamundai and Derabis blocks on Monday.
In another incident, three youths were beaten up while five members of a Sankirtan group were detained by irate locals in Soro, Jaleswar, Khaira and Bahanaga blocks in Balasore district.
In Soro-Anantpur area, a woman was beaten black and blue and almost stripped by a group of people near Balanga Chhak.
In Cuttack district also, two youths were thrashed at Gargara and Kukudanga villages under Salepur police limits. Similarly, three persons were beaten up by the people of Gopalpur, Ranpur, Harirajpur and Subarnapur villages under Banki police limits.
Of all the victims rescued by the police from the aforesaid districts, some were beggars while others found mentally challenged.
Meanwhile, Ambadala police on Tuesday arrested 16 persons of Peruguda village in Rayagada district for thrashing two persons on the suspicion of being child lifters on May 27.
In another incident, police detained three persons of Simulia area in Balasore late on Monday for stripping and beating up a woman in full public glare on Sunday, suspecting her to be a child-lifter.
However, the woman was later found to be a mentally challenged.
