Bhubaneswar: Gondia police have arrested two more persons on charges of abusing and assaulting a young man and a woman returning from Kapilas and making a video of the incident viral on social media. With this, the number of accused arrested has reached five. The two newly arrested accused are Sanjay Nayak (42) and his father Dijabar Nayak (65) of Bania village under Gondia police station.
Police had earlier arrested three persons allegedly involved in the incident on Tuesday.
“The complainant, along with her friends, on September 18, 2026, was returning from Kapilas at village Bhanragada under Sorisiapada Gram Panchayat, when the alleged accused Saroj Nayak, Samir Nayak and others, being intoxicated, abused and assaulted them,” Dhenkanal Police said in a statement.
Police also stated that after intervention of local people, the matter was sorted out at the spot. However, when the couple proceeded again, the accused persons intercepted them once again and videographed them.
Subsequently, the video went viral on social media the next day on September 19. When the complainant came to know about this, she reported the matter at Choudwar Police Station in Cuttack district on September 21, urging police to take legal action against those involved.
Following receipt of Zero FIR from Choudwar Police Station, Gondia Police registered a case and arrested three accused persons identified as Saroj Nayak (41), Samir Nayak (37) of village Bania and Sangram Rath alias Durga of Raipur village under Gondia police station of Dhenkanal district.A senior Dhenkanal district police officer said efforts are underway to arrest others involved in the incident.
Notably, a young couple was allegedly intercepted and assaulted by a group of villagers while returning from Kapilas, a prominent tourist destination in Dhenkanal district.
A video purportedly showing the incident is now circulating on social media. The video allegedly shows the woman being subjected to harassment during the episode. It also captures the woman making repeated appeals to the culprits to let them leave. The group, however, allegedly continued its actions, according to the footage circulating online.
