Puri: A youth was chased and hacked by a group of miscreants in broad daylight a few metres away from Chandanpur police station here Monday.
The victim, Jitendra Sahu (26) of Kancha Sahi in Chandanpur, suffered grievous injuries on his neck and was admitted to the District Headquarters Hospital (DHH). While the incident triggered tension in the area, residents blamed inaction of the police for the crime.
Sources said Jitendra owns a makeshift shop of watermelon adjacent to Chandanpur police station. As usual, he closed his shop at 2.30 pm and was preparing to go home when some youths reached there on two motorcycles. The miscreants, who had their faces covered, started attacking Jitendra with swords as he ran for his life.
While the miscreants were chasing and attacking Jitendra, other vendors present there did not come to his rescue. Soon after the incident, the vendors closed their shops.
Although the attack on the youth continued for 30 minutes, not a single policeman of Chandanpur police station came to save Jitendra. The police acted as if they were unaware of the incident, sources said.
The police arrived on the spot about 30 minutes after the incident. Till then the miscreants had already left. Moreover, the police allegedly visited the DHH two-and-a-half hour after the victim was hospitalised by his family members. The police then left the hospital in a hurry within 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, locals alleged that while criminal activities were on the rise at Chandanpur market, the police had failed to curb the same. In private, locals talked about a strong police-criminal nexus behind the frequent violent incidents in Chandanpur. This is the second attack in past three days.
Bansidhar Pradhan (40), a resident of Birpratappur, was chased and attacked by some miscreants Saturday. Pradhan had sustained critical injuries and is undergoing treatment at SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack.
When contacted, Chandanpur inspector-in-charge (IIC) said, “All the staff were having their lunch when the incident took place. Some policemen had come out of the police station and rushed to the crime scene. However, the miscreants had fled by then. We have detained two persons in connection with the incident and interrogating them.”
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