Bhubaneswar: Three cops of the Nayapalli police station including a police driver were attacked by residents of Adivasi slum in Salia Sahi here for allegedly shielding local drug peddlers,Friday.
The incident took place quick on the heels of a similar incident in the city when miscreants beat up Sahid Nagar police—raising concern on the worsening law and order situation in the capital city.
Locals accused the policemen of shielding drug peddlers who caused nuisance in the area. People claimed there are at least 10 drug peddlers in the area who manage to come out of jail within days every time they are arrested.
Sources said, the residents of Adivasi slum Wednesday had apprehended two miscreants who allegedly dealt in brown sugar, ganja and other illegal businesses. They were handed over to police with proper proofs of their criminal acts. However, to their utter shock and disbelief, they found the two back in the locality and selling drugs, Friday. The culprits even threatened them of dire consequences.
Meanwhile, the slum dwellers Friday caught another pair of drug peddlers from the slum and tied them before calling Nayapalli police. The locals claimed that the two were in possession of brown sugar packets when they were handed to the police, Friday.
People alleged that the police, instead of booking the culprits, took the brown sugar packets from them and immediately hid the contraband. Eye-witnesses said, the driver, who was in plain clothes, took nine brown sugar packets from the peddlers and denied keeping them with him when he was quizzed by locals on the existence of the packets. Sources said the peddlers secretly gave the packets to the driver to avoid the wrath of the public and avoid arrest.
Meanwhile, one of the brown sugar packets stashed in the driver’s pocket dropped on the ground. Seeing this, the crowd lost its cool and attacked the driver for trying to shield the drug peddlers and being hand in glove with them.
The two cops who tried to rescue the driver were also manhandled by the people. Later, the slum dwellers caught another youth of Damana area who had reportedly come to buy brown sugar from the slum. The youth was also handed over to police.
Police told Orissa POST, a police team reached the place immediately after they were informed by the slum dwellers. The residents behaved sensibly with police officers. The driver, who actually received the packets from the drug peddlers, denied possessing the packets to avoid further furor at the place. However, the locals went berserk when they saw that the driver shielded the peddlers. The locals were not protesting against the police per se, but the driver in particular, police added.
Many slums in the city such as Haladipadia, Salia Sahi and Panda Park Basti and some on the city’s outskirts like Bharatpur have become dens for drug peddlers. Sources said tacit support from the police and excise officials has allowed them to flourish there.
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