Politics · India · 5 hrs ago
Odisha police arrest doctor and activist over earlier clash
Odisha police arrested doctor Randall Sequeira and Dalit activist Laxman Naik at a rented house in Bhawanipatna on October 16.
Police linked the arrests to a violent clash in Rayagada district 192 days earlier.
Neither man was among the 26 villagers named in the original police complaint.
Police added them later, saying they were identified among 100 unnamed people mentioned in the complaint.
Sequeira had supported people resisting bauxite mining, connecting the case to local opposition to mining.
His parents travelled from Mumbai to Rayagada and demanded his release.
Odisha police arrested doctor Randall Sequeira and activist Laxman Naik in connection with a violent clash.
The arrests took place late on October 16 at a rented house in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district.
Police linked the arrests the next day to a clash that had occurred 192 days earlier.
Neither man was among the 26 villagers initially named in the first information report.
Police allegedly identified them later among 100 unnamed people referred to in the report.
- Who
- Doctor Randall Sequeira, 39, and Dalit activist Laxman Naik, 31.
- What
- Odisha police arrested them in connection with an earlier violent clash.
- When
- October 16; police linked the arrests to the clash the following day.
- Where
- A rented house in Hilltown, Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district, Odisha.
- Why
- Police linked them to a clash 192 days earlier and allegedly identified them among 100 unnamed people in the FIR.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Police arrested Sequeira and Naik at a rented house in Bhawanipatna close to 11 p.m.
Police linked their arrests to a violent clash that had taken place 192 days earlier.
- Arrested
- Randall Sequeira, 39, and Laxman Naik, 31
- Arrest location
- Hilltown, Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district
- Arrest time
- Close to 11 p.m. on October 16
- FIR
- No. 85/2026, registered at Kashipur police station
- Initial names
- 26 villagers were named in the FIR
- Unidentified group
- 100 unnamed “others” from Kantamal town were mentioned in the FIR