Bhubaneswar, July 20: The Laxmisagar police today arrested two brothers for opposing the eviction drive conducted by the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation (BMC) at Shantinagar in Jharapada of the city and issuing threats to the mayor, who was heading the drive.
Police said the accused duo — Manoj Jena and Saroj Jena — not only opposed the eviction drive, but also issued threats to the team and assaulted the members. Even mayor Anant Narayan Jena was not spared from the verbal abuse of the brothers.
A BMC team had gone to Shantinagar around 8am to evict the encroachment on natural drainage channel No. 10 after the local residents complained about waterlogging. The Jena brothers had encroached upon the drainage channel.
“The BMC has been trying to evict the illegal encroachment by this family for the past two years. But every time, they have managed to stall the drive by issuing threats to the officials. The area had been facing serious waterlogging because of this encroachment. A portion of the retaining wall of the drain had collapsed because of this family’s activities,” said the mayor adding that they had decided to evict the encroachment today.
“After I learnt of the incident, I rushed to the spot, but the Jena brothers were not ready to listen to us. Despite several attempts to convince them to let us carry out the drive, they did not listen and attacked our people. I then lodged a complaint with the police,” the mayor said. After police intervention, eviction was completed in the afternoon.
The police registered a case and arrested the brothers. “We have produced them before the court,” said a senior police officer of Laxmisagar police station. Their bail pleas were rejected by a local court.