Keonjhar, Oct. 12: The chairperson of Joda Panchayat Samiti was yesterday assaulted by a group of villagers of Karan Sahi who have been opposing the resettlement of neighbouring villagers in their locality.

According to a complaint lodged with Joda police by the panchayat samiti chief, Rajani Nayak, she was on her way to Karan Sahi village to attend a palli sabha yesterday when the incident took place.

She was allegedly intercepted by a group of people led by Sukadev Munda and some others at the entrance of the village. “At the request of the local administration, I was on my way to attend a palli sabha at Karan Sahi village, which was convened to obtain the consent of local people for land acquisition for the resettlement of villagers of Govindpur. As soon as I reached the village, a group of people blocked our vehicle and pounced upon me. They beat me, abused me in vulgar language and took away my earrings. They even threatened to kill me,” said Nayak. Inspector in-charge of Joda police station Ajay Kumar Mishra said: “We received a complaint last night. A case has been registered accordingly. We have launched a manhunt to nab the culprits who are absconding.”