The Khordha police on Tuesday arrested suspended Galua panchayat sarpanch Suresh Chandra Barik from Balangir on the charge of assaulting Banpur Block Development Officer (BDO) Syed Arif Hussain last month.
According to Khordha SP Dillip Das, they had formed three teams to arrest Barik. The police teams searched many places to nab the former sarpanch, but didn’t get any chance. Finally, a team got some tipoff from a reliable sources regarding whereabouts of the accused two days ago, he added.
On Monday, Das said, the police teams traced Barik from Khariguda under the Sadar police station limits in Balangir district and then arrested him. The accused was sent to jail after his bail plea got rejected by the court.
Notably, Barik had assaulted the BDO on June 29 when the officer asked the former to open the panchayat office.
This issue had created hue and cry in the State. A delegation of the Odisha Administrative Service Officers Association (OASOA) had met Chief Secretary GC Pati and submitted a memorandum demanding immediate action against the sarpanch.
The association members had also threatened that they would wear black badges if the State Government fails to take action against the accused in the next 72 hours.
After this, Panchayati Raj Department of the State Government suspended Barik on July 6 on charges of assaulting the BDO after serving a show-cause notice on him to reply within 15 days.