On 17th June, a violent Muslim mob attacked Scheduled Caste Hindus in Gopinathpur village of Jagatsinghpur district in Odisha. According to an exclusive report by Hinduphobia Tracker, a group of local Muslims launched the assault following an unrelated theft incident from the previous night that happened in a Muslim-dominated area.
According to the reports, sacred Hindu symbols were desecrated, caste-based slurs were hurled, and numerous Hindu residents, including women and children, were brutally attacked with rods, sticks, steel pipes and sharp weapons.
Hinduphobia Tracker Exclusive: In Jagatsinghpur, Odisha, a violent Muslim mob attacked Hindus during preparations for the Raja festival. Over 100 Islamists brutally assaulted men, women & even children with rods, pipes, & weapons. A handicapped minor boy was also beaten. pic.twitter.com/744FXHJiHo
— Hinduphobia Tracker (@hinduphobia_tr) June 20, 2025
A Bajrang Dal functionary told Hinduphobia Tracker that the Hindu community was busy in preparations for the Raja festival, a traditional celebration in Odisha, when the incident happened. He described the assault as extremely brutal and noted that even Hindu women and small children were not spared. Among the victims, there was one handicapped minor boy who was brutally assaulted by the Muslim mob. While the attack happened on a Hindu community by the Muslim mob, police told Hinduphobia Tracker that there was no communal angle to the incident.
Details of the incident
An FIR was registered on the complaint of the victims at Biridi police station on 18th June under Sections 126(2), 115(2), 303(2), 351(3), and 324(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 3(5), 3(1)(r), 3(1)(s) and 3(2)(va) of the SC/ST Act against Raja Miyan, Siraj Alli, Sona Miyan, Kapil Suleman, Jani Miyan, Bahadul Alli and others.
According to the FIR accessed in the matter, on the morning of 17th June, residents of Sial Sahi were discussing arrangements for the festival when police arrived with a sniffer dog to investigate the previous night’s theft in the Muslim-dominant area. Around 100–200 local Muslims accompanied the police.
The Hindu residents cooperated fully with the investigation. However, the situation unexpectedly escalated and the accompanying Muslim mob quickly turned hostile. They launched a coordinated and violent attack on the Hindus.
They attacked Hindu men, women, and even children without any restraint. The attackers desecrated a Tulsi plant that had been decorated for the festival and vandalised a local Hindu temple at the community clubhouse. They threw stones at the temple and some assailants urinated near the sacred site in a deliberate act of desecration.
The Muslim mob hurled caste-based slurs and questioned the right of Dalit Hindus to worship or even reside in the area. They issued violent threats, including warnings to Hindu women not to step outside and threats to behead local Hindu men. The Muslim attackers snatched a gold ring from one of the Hindu women during the chaos. One young Hindu man, Hemant Bhoi, was dragged out from the temple and beaten in public view. Others, including Ashok Bhoi, Sanjay Bhoi, and Mani Bhoi, suffered serious injuries.
Though the police were present at the scene, the mob went on a rampage for over an hour, leaving dozens injured and traumatised. Later, members of the assaulted community contacted the Bajrang Dal, which assisted the victims to file the complaint.
