Police on Friday arrested 51 persons in connection with the brutal lynching of four youths from Anuppur district of Madhya Pradesh near Balia bridge on the outskirts of Jeypore town late on Wednesday. Besides, police also forwarded five persons of an inter-State ganja racket to the court.
South West Range IG Yashwant Jethwa on Friday informed that the four deceased youths were also the members of the ganja racket. Of the 51 arrested people of Balia, Nuaput, Palkaput and Paliguda villages, 19 people of Balia village were forwarded to the court on Friday, said Korapaut Additional SP VR Rao.
Sources said all members of the four villages have left the village fearing arrest. Meanwhile, the bodies of the four youths were identified as Ajay Kumar Yadav (22), Anand Kumar Shyam (26), Rajesh Jaiswal (26) and Ram Choudhury Chamankar (26) of Rajendragam police station area in Annpur district of Madhya Pradesh and handed over to their family members.
According to police, the four deceased youths had come to Koraput to collect ganja who were mistaken by the people of these four villages as the members of a child theft racket.