A woman tehsildar, Anamika Singh, was reportedly beaten up by locals while conducting a raid to implement the Covid guidelines during an 11th day ritual ceremony. The incident took place on Wednesday night in Balasore district, about 220km from here.

Singh, the Balasore Sadar tehsildar (a senior Odisha Administrative Service (OAS) cadre officer), on Thursday sat on a dharna in her office demanding justice and arrest of the accused involved in the attack on her. After the district collector and superintendent of police intervened, she preferred to leave the office and stay back in her house and not press the issue further.

Talking to The Telegraph, Anamika said: “I was quite upset the way local police handled the case. Those who had attacked me were allowed to go within a few hours of detention. If being in the administration, I am not able to do my duty as per the guidelines of the government, it’s better to sit at home.”

After receiving information about more than 60 people having gathered at a 11th daily rituals of a Covid-19 victim, the tehsildar went to the spot. “All the hell broke loose when I reached the spot at village Hinjili at 7pm on Wednesday. The relatives were scared to attend the function which was organised in the memory of a 70-year old woman who passed away due to Covid,” she said. As per the government guidelines, only 20 people are allowed to attend a funeral function.

The tehsildar said, “When we asked people to leave the spot and we began the process to seize food, the family members suddenly attacked me and my team members. They even pushed me to the ground. We failed to video graph the entire incident. When I sat on dharna, the situation subsided. Even the police did not reach the spot despite my SOS sent to them. After the collector rushed to the spot, things came under control. They even took three people to the police station but the prime accused managed to abscond.”

But things turned bitter for the tehsildar after the police released the three people detained in this connection. “When I had asked the local inspector about the progress of the case on Thursday morning, he informed me that they had released them because one of them is suspected to be Covid positive. When I asked them to give the medical reports, they failed to do so,” Anamika said.

When the young tehsildar raised the issue and decided to sit on a dharna, the district administration rushed to her and persuaded not to put the administration on a backfoot. “The collector assured me to take strict legal action against the accused. However feeling uncomfortable, I decided to leave the office,” she said.

Balasore SP Sudhanshu Sekhar Mishra told this newspaper, “There is a mis-communication with the tehsildar. As one of detainees has shown Covid symptoms, we released them. Another person was a lady, so we decided to release her. But let me clarify those who have violated the law will be booked. Stringent action will be taken against them.”