Berhampur: Seven youths from Tamil Nadu faced the wrath of locals on suspicion they were members of a child lifting racket, here in Ganjam district, Saturday. The seven were detained and thrashed by the locals before they were rescued and hospitalised by the police.
According to police, these youths were roaming around Gate Bazar area near Nua Bazar. Locals questioned them about their identities, but the youths could not answer their queries as they didn’t know Odia. This raised suspicion and the locals thrashed them.
In another incident, people of Kusadhipa village near Khallikote in the same district thrashed a thief suspecting him to be a child-lifter.
Police said the villagers found six youths moving about suspiciously on the outskirts of their village Saturday. 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 hands, they severely beat him up, suspecting him to be a child-lifter.
Police rescued the injured youth, Rakesh Swain, a native of Nayagarh district. He was admitted to a government hospital in Khallikote.
The incidents are seen in the context of a social media rumour that some child-lifting gangs were active in several districts of the state, including Ganjam and the coastal belts of Andhra Pradesh. This triggered panic among the people in these districts, who have started suspecting non-Odias moving about in their areas.
