Odisha: Villagers thrash policemen mistaking them for dacoits
India Today
Villagers of Matikhal village in Odisha’s Koraput district thrashed members of the police team who had arrived for a midnight raid on ganja smuggling. The villagers trashed them because they assumed the policemen were dacoits.
Mistaking policemen for dacoits, villagers in Odisha’s Koraput district thrashed members of the police team who had arrived for a midnight raid on ganja smuggling.
A group of villagers attacked a police team who were in plain clothes. The villagers thought they were a group of Dacoits, while in fact the officials were there for a raid on ganja smuggling.
The incident took place in Matikhal village under Machkund police limits in the tribal belt of Koraput district on Saturday, May 14.
As many as 30 policemen from the neighbouring Malkangiri district had come for a raid at Matikal village after getting inputs about cannabis smuggling in the area by the locals. However, the villagers, assuming the police to be dacoits, launched an assault on the police personnel with lathis and sharp weapons.
Following the deadly skirmish which left several policemen injured, some policemen fled the spot, while one was detained by the villagers along with two bikes.
However, a villager alleged that, “Generally, men of the village go to the forests at night to guard cashew plants during the season. At around 9.30 pm on Friday, approximately 40-50 police personnel came to the village in our absence and entered our houses on the pretext of a raid without prior notice and they misbehaved with women. When the women objected, they said they were here by the order of the Koraput Superintendent of Police to conduct searches at houses.”
On being informed, another team from Machkund police station reached the spot and rescued the injured policeman and shifted him to hospital in critical condition.
