A 39-year-old ‘doctor’ Randall Sequeira has been arrested and charged with serious criminal offences, including attempt to murder and rioting, for his role in instigating violence in the name of an ‘anti-mining campaign’ in Rayagada district of Odisha.
Police have rejected claims that the arrest is part of a crackdown on dissent, stating that Dr Randall Sequeira was not merely providing medical services but was actively inciting tribals against the state government.
Police also arrested another man, Laxman Naik, from Sequeira’s residence in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district, on the night of 16 October 2026. Both are now in judicial custody. The arrests relate to a clash between tribals and police in Kantamal village in April 2026, during a protest against the construction of an approach road to the Sijimali bauxite reserve.
According to police, the two men were not named in the original FIR registered in connection with the clash, which left people on both sides injured, but their involvement was established during the subsequent investigation.
South Western Range DIG Akhileshvar Singh stated that Dr Sequeira and Naik “had instigated tribals to attack police” during the April protest. The DIG further dismissed suggestions that the doctor was an innocent humanitarian targeted for his service.
While talking to PTI, DIG Singh said, “The arrested persons were not innocent“. Dr Randall Sequeira was not providing medical services to the people but was engaged in instigating tribals against the State government. Naik was also misleading people. Why do police arrest any innocent person, especially a doctor?”
The officer added that while many doctors work in the Kalahandi and Rayagada districts, no one else has been arrested, and that those claiming Sequeira’s innocence should examine whether he was actually treating patients or instigating them. Police have also cited pending cases against him, including that he instigated tribal women to make false allegations against the state government.
The arrests have drawn condemnation from civil society groups and the opposition Congress party, which allege that the action is intended to suppress legitimate protests against bauxite mining in the region.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh claimed the arrests were part of a “larger campaign of repression” and accused the government of pushing mining projects in violation of the Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas) Act and the Forest Rights Act. A civil society group, Concerned Citizens Committee, Odisha, demanded the withdrawal of criminal cases against Sequeira & Naik.
However, the police maintain that the arrests were undertaken to maintain law and order and that the charges against Dr Sequeira stem from his role in the April violence, not from his medical work or his opposition to mining per se. The case is now before the court, where the prosecution will be required to substantiate its claim that the doctor crossed the line from advocacy into criminal instigation.
