Overview

• On June 22 in Kharigumma village, a mob accused two Dalit men, Babula and Bulu Nayak, of cattle smuggling, tonsured their heads and forced them to crawl, eat grass and drink sewage water after they refused to pay ₹30,000.
• Police have arrested nine individuals, including a juvenile, and identified one prime suspect who remains at large, while further detentions are underway.
• Investigators say the attackers sought ransom rather than acting as cow vigilantes, prompting FIRs under multiple IPC sections and the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
• Opposition parties have formed fact-finding panels and planned statewide protests, with senior Congress leaders condemning the assault as an attack on constitutional equality.
• District officials provided Red Cross medical aid to the victims and boosted security patrols in Ganjam district as scrutiny mounts over the state’s law and order performance.