Prime accused in journalist assault case arrested | Bhubaneswar News
Balangir: Police on Tuesday arrested the prime accused in the journalist assault case at Kulthipali village in Balangir district. Gajendra Dalei (43), who allegedly instigated his associates to attack the victim, Bijaya Kumar Padhan (46), was arrested by Puintala police from the Balangir-Sonepur border.On Monday, four individuals were arrested and a minor boy detained for brutally attacking Bijaya, journalist of a vernacular news channel.Saroj Kumar Upadhyaya, sub-divisional police officer (SDPO), Balangir, said Gajendra was intercepted and taken into custody. “A team from Puintala police station had been tracking Gajendra’s movements since he ‘absconded’ following the incident. The team is currently bringing him back to Balangir,” said the SDPO.Bijaya, accompanied by his nephew, had visited Kulthipali on May 23 to report on alleged corruption in the construction of a retaining wall along the village road. The project, worth around Rs 10 lakh, was awarded by the Puintala block administration and executed by Gajendra.Gajendra objected to the journalist filming the ongoing work and allegedly instigated his associates Abinash Dalei, Aditya Jena, Gumar Naik and others to assault him. The assailants allegedly tied Bijaya’s hands and legs, beat him brutally under a tree, and later paraded him through the village and took him to a temple. There, they allegedly threatened him not to publish the report or disclose the incident.
