The incident of suspension of a young police sub-inspector, Ranjan Bariha, is still fresh in public memory here. It was alleged that Bariha didn’t perform his duty properly in handling hemp mafias.
And in a quick interval, senior police officers here arrested two constables from the Reserve Police Ground here when they along with several others were gambling on cards.
On a tipoff, a police team led by Sambalpur SDPO Utkal Keshari Das, Town police station IIC Pradeep Kumar Sahu conducted a raid and found their own staff indulging in the illegal act.
“There were four to five persons on the spot. But we could arrest only two as others fled the spot,” said the SDPO. “However, we are hopeful of nabbing them soon,” he added.
The police also seized cash of Rs1,500 and four packets of playing cards from the spot. The arrested persons have been forwarded to court.
It was learnt that the arrested police constables are posted out of the district headquarters, but they were coming regularly to the Reserve Police line for gambling with the staff posted here.
The arrest of the constables supposedly the ‘guardians of public security’ by their own seniors has become a talk of the town.