Nabarangpur: A youth was critically injured after two miscreants slit his throat on suspicion of being a child lifter at Ponaro village in Umerkote block of Nabarangpur district.
The victim was rushed to a local hospital in a critical condition.
Meanwhile, the victim’s family members lodged a police complaint alleging that he was attacked on suspicion of being a child thief.
On May 26, police had rescued six non-Odia youths, who were severely thrashed by the locals on the suspicion of being members of a child lifting racket.
According to police, six youths of Tamil Nadu were roaming in Gate Bazar area under Nua Bazar police limits when they were detained by some locals.
Since the six youths could not answer the queries as they did not know Odia, the irate locals thrashed them black and blue.
Getting information, Nua Bazaar police rushed to the spot and rescued the six youths who were rushed to a nearby hospital. Police later released the youths.
In another incident, people of Kusadhipa village under Khallikote police limits had severely thrashed a thief suspecting him to be a child lifter.
Sources said people of Kusadhipa village found six youths moving suspiciously on the outskirts of their village late on Saturday. When asked about their movement near their village, the youths could not give them satisfactory reply. As the villagers tried to detain them, five youths managed to run away while one hid inside a haystack.
In the morning, the villagers nabbed him. After tying his both hands, they severely beat him up suspecting him to be a child lifter.
However, police rushed to the village and rescued the injured youth who was admitted to a government hospital in Khalikote.
The youth has been identified as Rakesh Swain, a native of Nayagarh district.
Notably, there was a rumour on a social media that some child-lifting rackets are active in south Odisha districts, including Ganjam and the coastal belts of Andhra Pradesh recently. This has triggered panic among the people in the entire southern districts who have started suspecting non-Odias moving in their areas.
However, Director General of Police (DGP) RP Sharma had issued a seven-point advisory requesting people not to spread rumours about child lifting gangs as no such gang exists in Odisha.
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