Nandipada police have taken two individuals into custody for allegedly issuing a death threat to Jayadev Jena, the former president of the Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC), former minister, and ex-MLA of the Anandapur Assembly constituency in Keonjhar district.
The suspects, identified as 27-year-old Harmohan Barik and 29-year-old Rakesh Natia, both hail from Nuagaon village within the Jajpur Road police jurisdiction in Jajpur district.
Jena, who resides in Shankhana village under the Nandipada police limits in Hatadihi block, received the threat through a WhatsApp message from the mobile number 8984790372. Following Jena’s complaint, a case (104/2026) was registered at the Nandipada police station.
Police officials, including IIC Dharmendra Shanti, Inspector Balia Barik, and SI Sushama Sundari Sethi, along with Gopal Mishra and others, conducted raids in the village of the accused and successfully apprehended them.
Authorities revealed that Rakesh Natia had previously run as a Congress-supported candidate in the last panchayat election but lost, receiving only about 50 votes. The investigation indicated that Barik, who is currently unemployed, allegedly made the threat under Natia’s influence.
