Irate over death of a lineman, about 300 people of Godijharia village under the Tigiria police station in Cuttack district ransacked the Athagarh Cesu office and damaged assets worth lakhs of rupees on Wednesday.The assets damaged include employees’ vehicles and office furniture and computers. They also torched documents of both the SDO and Executive Engineer’s office.They turned violent after a lineman, Santosh Mallick, belonging to their village was electrocuted on Tuesday.
According to report, the mishap occurred when Santosh was working on a pole; another lineman charged the lT line. Santosh was soon taken to the Athagarh hospital but declared brought dead there.In protest, the mob rushed to Athagarh Cesu office on Wednesday at about 11 am and broke doors and window of the SDO office with lathis and stones and burnt furniture, computers and paper documents. Then the mob rushed to the Executive Engineer’s office where they broke staffs’ vehicles. It all happened in the presence of local PS IIC and his force.Then the villagers went to the Grid office and torched some documents and properties there.
In the meantime, many local people at the Cesu office came and stood on the way of attackersAs a result, many villagers fled away from the spot. The locals managed to catch seven people whom they handed over to the police.It all happened in a span of one hour only and has put a question mark on the efficiency of the police. Had more number of police force reached the spot in time, properties worth lakhs of rupees could have been protected, said some intellectuals.