Berhampur: Police on Sunday arrested a 23-year-old history-sheeter for allegedly assaulting a youth after confining him to a locked room, some months ago.The prime accused was identified as R Sibaram alias R Arup of Pratap Krushna Chandra Pur under Berhampur Sadar police station limits, said police. They took swift action against the accused when the youth’s assault went viral on social media. The accused was a history-sheeter and was involved in at least three criminal cases in the past.The victim, identified as Prasant Das, a driver and a resident of Krupasindhu Pur under Berhampur Sadar police station limits, lodged a complaint against the accused in this regard on Sunday. He also complained to the President, Prime Minister, commissioner, NHRC, chief minister’s grievance cell, director-general of police and several others, earlier.In his complaint, Das said he was the only son of his visually impaired parents and was living in fear. He lodged a delayed complaint due to the fear, as the accused threatened to kill him if he disclosed the matter.“The incident has raised grave concerns over the law and order situation in the region. We have registered a case against the accused in Berhampur Sadar police station under different sections of the BNS and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention and Atrocities) Act and arrested one of the accused,” said additional SP (Berhampur) Alok Jena. The pen-drivecontaining the footage of the incident was seized, he said.Preliminary investigation has revealed that the accused and the victim were well-known to each other. The victim refused to do some illegal work, which the accused allegedly directed, police said. Peeved, the accused confined him to a room, assaulted him with a fibre rod with an intention to kill him. He also threatened to kill if he disclosed the incident, police added.The ASP said investigation was underway and other peaple involved in the incident would be arrested soon.
