Gamble cuffs

Phulbani: An ITI lecturer and four others were held on charges of gambling at Master Pada in Phulbani police limits in Kandhamal on Thursday. Police raided the house of the lecturer and seized Rs 28,000 from the five. The other arrested persons are accountant of Kotagarh tehsil office Pabitra Mohapatra, retired government employee Sudhir Behera and traders Sanjib Kumar Mohanty and Dukhisankhali Sahani.

Blood banks

Bhubaneswar: Red Cross tags will be removed from blood banks of state hospitals and the units will be christened as Odisha Blood Banks. The government will take over the Red Cross Blood Banks functioning from 55 government hospitals in Odisha.

Doctor crunch

Balasore: People of the town on Friday staged a demonstration protesting against doctor scarcity in Soro Hospital and demanding appointment of regular doctors instead of those on deputation.

Murder

Malkangiri: Irma Kabaki,55, was found murdered in Bapanpalli village in Padia block of Malkangiri district on Friday. Police suspect sorcery to be the reason behind the murder.

Accident

Angul: Three persons were killed and four suffered critical injuries when a bus collided head-on with an SUV on NH-55 near Champapur in Kishore Nagar late on Thursday night. Two persons died on the spot, while one person died on his way to hospital. 

Slum clash

Cuttack: Police on Friday arrested 25 more persons in connection with the Rajabagicha group clash on Thursday. With this, the total number of arrests in this case has reached 52. Two platoons of police are still camping in the area. Two slums of the area had fought on Thursday over parking vehicles on road.

Murder

Puri: A youth, identified as Niranjan, was hacked to death reportedly over previous enmity at Kuapada village in Delang block of the district today. Police are probing the incident and are yet to arrest anyone.

Ganja racket

Phulbani: Excise officials on Thursday busted a ganja smuggling racket in Phulbani in Kandhamal and arrested four persons. Some 35kg ganja worth around Rs 5 lakh and a car were seized. The arrested have been identified as Rajeev Digal, Jashobant Digal, Nabaghan Digal and Susant Bindhani.