Two Farmers Forced To Do Sit-Ups In Odisha’s Angul, Probe Ordered

Angul: Following strong protests against Kishorenagar Tehsildar Laxmi Prasad Sahu, who allegedly made two farmers do sit-ups for not wearing masks, Angul Collector Sidharth Shankar Swain on Sunday directed Athamallik sub-collector to probe the matter and submit a report in a week.

According to sources, the tehsildar with some policemen was on COVID duty near the Kishorenagar Degree College Square on Saturday afternoon. They intercepted two farmers – Maguni Sahu and Susant Rana of Panduripathara village of Dhaurapali panchayat – as they were returning home on a moped from their farmland.

Since the duo was not wearing the mask properly, Sahu asked them to pay a fine of Rs 500. When they expressed their inability to pay the fine, he asked them to do sit-ups. Finding no option, Maguni did sit-ups for eight times while Sushant completed ten sit-ups as directed by the Tehsildar.

After the incident went viral on social media, the tehsildar on Sunday told the media that he had not asked the two farmers to do the sit-ups.

“The two men were in an inebriated state. We asked them to pay the fine as they were not wearing masks properly. Instead of paying the fine, they did sit-ups. We only made them aware of the need for wearing masks. Nobody asked them to do sit-ups,” he said and added that the local IIC was also present at the spot.

Meanwhile, Maguni has lodged a complaint at the Kishorenagar police station against the Tehsildar in connection with the incident.