Berhampur, Oct. 10: Town police have arrested the councillor of the ward No. 22 of the municipal corporation, Prasant Patnaik, from his residence for his link with former Congress MLA Ramesh Jena, who has been in jail in connection with a series of crimes.
"A 35-year-old widow residing with her mother at Gandhi Nagar in the city has levelled threat charge against six persons, including Patnaik, on October 5," said inspector in charge of Town police station Nihar Ranjan Pradhan.
"Patnaik had been absconding since then. Acting on a tip-off, last evening we raided his house where he had reached to celebrate Dussehra with his family members," said Pradhan.
Former inspector in charge of Chatrapur police station Sarat Chandra Buruda, who is also accused in this case, is still absconding, the police said.
Five cases have been registered against Patnaik at Town and Baidyanathpur police stations. Of these, in three cases he has been granted anticipatory bail from Orissa High Court. The police had been searching for Patnaik in two other cases.
Earlier, the police had arrested councillor of ward No. 6 and Congress leader Ranjit Kumar Nayak in an extortion case on March 8.
Nayak was allegedly demanded extortion from a contractor, Jitendra Patra, in an incident that took place within the jurisdiction of Sadar police. The members of the extortion team had allegedly threatened the contractor and asked him to pay them Rs 1 lakh after visiting his camp on February 17. The gang leader, who threatened the contractor at gunpoint, took away Rs 10,000 in cash on the same day and asked him to pay Rs 90,000 later.
Two die in accident
Two persons died and nine suffered injuries when a Bolero they were travelling in overturned near Bhandaripokhari in Bhadrak district on Monday. The deceased were identified as Dhania Singh and Mamata Mandal of Maitapur in Balasore district. All the injured were admitted to the Bhadrak district headquarters hospital. The incident took place when they were returning home after attending Durga Puja in Cuttack.
