Bhubaneswar: Banapur police in Khurda district arrested two men on Tuesday for allegedly beating up a local resident to death on suspicion of being a thief. The accused have been identified as Pabitra Rout (51) and Sarat Kumar Swain (60) of the locality.Identified as Tofan Nayak (32) of Bhimpur Harijan Sahi, the man was allegedly assaulted by some villagers at Khanata on Sunday. His death on Monday has drawn parallels with recent incidents of mob violence in Rayagada and Sambalpur, triggered by rumours of child kidnapping.A video circulating on social media shows Nayak tied up and thrashed by locals, though police said they are verifying authenticity of the footage. Villagers accused him of trying to steal from a house and misbehaving with a woman in an inebriated state.“Police rescued Nayak and brought him to the station around 6.30 pm on Sunday, informing his family immediately. His parents arrived and, in a written acknowledgement (zimmanama), stated he was in good health when handed over to them. They also told police he had been mentally disturbed for nearly a month,” said Khurda SP Smit Parmar.On Monday morning, Nayak’s family rushed him to Banapur community health centre after he began vomiting blood. “Asked by doctors about possible assault, his parents denied any attack, saying he was addicted to alcohol and may have injured himself in a fall. He was referred to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where he died during treatment,” Parmar said.Police said the exact cause of death will be known after post-mortem. Following the incident, Nayak’s wife Sasmita (28) lodged a complaint blaming villagers for the assault.Based on her statement, police arrested two men of Khanata village on murder charges, and are searching for others involved.Police rejected allegations of custodial torture. “The zimmanama signed by his parents, their statement before doctors, photographs of Nayak with family at the time of release, and CCTV footage from the station clearly establish he was not tortured in custody,” the SP said.
