A judicial magistrate and a court assistant sub-inspector were injured while trying to stop an alleged iron-rod attack on an assistant public prosecutor at the Jharigaon court premises in Odisha’s Nabarangpur district on Saturday, according to police and court officials cited by the Times of India.
The accused, identified as 30-year-old anganwadi worker Sanmati Majhi of Karsahandi village, was arrested and is expected to be produced in court, Nabarangpur superintendent of police Parth Kashyap said. Police are scanning CCTV footage from the court premises and investigating the motive, he said.
The incident occurred while APP Pradeep Kumar Pattanaik was examining a witness inside the courtroom. Police said Majhi had allegedly concealed an iron rod in her bag and was initially stopped by security personnel when she tried to enter the courtroom.
Pattanaik later came out of the courtroom and went to the bar room, where Majhi allegedly approached him and pulled the rod from her bag. She allegedly struck him on the head. “I was admitted to the hospital with head injuries,” Pattanaik said, according to the report.
Hearing the commotion, Jharigaon JMFC Smita Lakra, court ASI Meenketan Gantayat and other court staff rushed to the spot. Lakra and Gantayat sustained injuries while intervening. The APP and the ASI were initially taken to the Jharigaon community health centre for treatment. The SP said the magistrate suffered minor injuries while attempting to stop the attack on the prosecutor.
The alleged breach raises immediate questions about how objects are screened and how movement is controlled inside lower-court premises, where judicial officers, prosecutors, witnesses, accused persons, lawyers and court staff operate in close proximity. The report does not specify the existing security arrangements at the Jharigaon court or whether any screening failure has been established.
Sources cited in the report said a dowry-harassment case involving Majhi had been pending before the Jharigaon court since January 2026. Her evidence was reportedly recorded on November 2, and she had visited the court to discuss the case with the assistant public prosecutor. The sources said she may have been upset over delays in the proceedings. Police have not yet established the motive, and the claim about the case-related background remains part of the ongoing investigation.
The incident also places the focus on the operational responsibilities of court security. Police must establish how the alleged weapon entered the premises, reconstruct the sequence through CCTV footage and record the injuries sustained by the court personnel. Further legal action will depend on the investigation and the accused’s production before the court.
