Odisha minister’s nephew arrested for forcing youth to kneel down on street

A video showed Odisha agriculture minister Ranendra Pratap Swain’s nephew forcing a youngster to kneel down in Cuttack town on Thursday evening in a road rage incident

Published on: Oct 30, 2022, 12:52:11 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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The Odisha police have arrested the nephew of senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and agriculture minister Ranendra Pratap Swain after a video showed him forcing a youngster to kneel down in Cuttack town on Thursday evening in a road rage incident, police said on Sunday.

Amarendra Pratap Swain, 35, was arrested by the Cuttack sadar police. (Sourced)

The incident happened near Pratap Nagari locality in Cuttack and 35-year-old Amarendra Pratap Swain was arrested by the Cuttack sadar police.

“The accused is among the 10 who tortured the youngster and forced him to kneel down after their cars brushed against each other. However, we are yet to identify the person who was forced to kneel down,” said Cuttack Sadar inspector-in-charge, Rashmi Ranjan Mohapatra.

According to the police, two cars brushed against each other at Pratap Nagari on the outskirts of Cuttack town while one was trying to overtake the other. Following this 10 youngsters got down from three cars and had a brawl with the driver of the car that reportedly brushed off against one of the cars.

They assaulted the driver of the car and forced him to kneel down following an argument about overtaking their vehicle. A local, identified as Nirmal Swain, tried to intervene, but he too was assaulted by the group. He then filed a complaint on the basis of which police lodged a case and verified CCTV footage.

On October 16, a similar incident happened in Cuttack city in which a youngster was tied and dragged for two kilometres on the busy streets over his failure in repaying a loan of ₹1,500. After a video of the incident went viral on social media platforms, two youngsters who dragged the man, were arrested and the traffic havaldar posted at the traffic square was issued a show cause notice.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.Read More

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