Four suspects allegedly involved in the attack on Odisha's Tourism Minister Maheshwar Mohanty, were arrested by a joint team of Odisha and Andhra Pradesh police from Puttaparthy town of Anantapur district, police said today.
"Based on information that some suspects involved in the attack on the Odisha minister were hiding in a lodge, the local police along with a police team from Odisha raided the lodge and arrested four persons last night," Anantapur District Superintendent of Police S Senthil Kumar said.
The four persons, who have been taken away by Odisha police, are not Maoists, Kumar said clarifying some media reports that the four held were outlaws.
The accused persons would soon be brought to the state and interrogated thoroughly, a senior police official said.
The police had launched a massive manhunt after unknown attackers shot at 59-year-old Mohanty while he was returning home on a two-wheeler in Puri, his home town which he represented in the Assembly, on February 21.
The minister was rushed to the Puri district hospital from where he was brought to a private hospital here. His condition is stated to be 'stable' and 'out of danger' after a bullet lodged in the minister's chest had been removed, said Kumar.
