The Biridi police arrested two persons for allegedly assaulting two panchayat officials in Alipada village under the Baisi Mouza area in Jagasinghpur district late on Saturday night.
The arrested were identified as Tapas Jena of Alipada and his associate Narayan Pal of Ukundara.
According to information, Ukundara Panchayat Executive Officer Rohita Kumar Nayak and GRS Sunil Ranjan Sahoo had visited Alipada village to inspect houses constructed under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana. When they were returning, Tapas and Narayan intercepted them at Alipada village-end and asked for money brandishing a gun at them. As the two officials expressed inability, the miscreants thrashed them severely.Both the officials soon informed this to the Biridi BDO who advised them to lodge an FIR. Acting on their complaint, the police arrested the two.