Leader of the anti-JSW and three others found guilty in bombing case

Debendra Swain, the head of an anti-JSW project, and three of his followers were sentenced to jail on Tuesday by the Additional District and Sessions Judge, Kujang, Parthsarthi Pattnaik. The defendants had thrown explosives at the home of a Pravat Rout from Govindpur village in 2021.

Swain, a resident of Dhinkia village within the jurisdiction of the Abhyachandpur police station, was sentenced to two years in prison, while Manas Bardhan, Kailash Das, and Abhya Mallick, his accomplices, got sentences of six months each. Each accused person has also been fined Rs 1,000 by the court, and if they do not pay the fee, they will be imprisoned for an extra three months.

According to sources, Rout was the target of explosives thrown by demonstrators on December 3, 2021, since he had backed the JSW project. The demonstrators blocked the path of the local police as they hurried to the scene. Following the activists’ theft of a police officer’s gun, SI Asutosh Hota filed a formal complaint against them at the Abhyachandpur police station.

A inquiry was started after a complaint was filed against 15 to 20 suspects. After the investigation, Swain and his three followers were taken into custody by the police, and ADJ Pattnaik found them guilty.