Balasore: Seven days after a minor boy was found hanging under mysterious circumstances inside a roadside eatery at Baliapal in Balasore, the police arrested 13 people who had allegedly attacked the Baliapal IIC on the day of the incident.
The arrested people are BJP leader Manoj Singh, Susant Jena, Prabhakar Jena, Seikh Julu, Kharif Mohammed, Gopal Krushna Mohapatra, Amiya Mohapatra, Chaitanaya Jena, Dinabandhu Giri, Shantanu Karan, Barendra Pradhan, Manmath Mahuri and Musa Jena.
However, Sahbuddin Shah, the owner of the dhaba at Idco Chhak, suspected to be the main accused, is absconding.
Amid allegations that the police are trying to give a new twist to the death case, the police carried out midnight raids and arrested the 13 persons.
All the 13 accused were produced in court Thursday. It is also learnt that the police have prepared a list of people who were involved in the assault on IIC Prabhukalyan Acharya. More arrests are expected.
Tension mounted in the area July 26 after the minor was found hanging inside an eatery. An angry mob attacked the IIC who was there to look into the matter that day.
The issue was taken seriously by the police. Balasore SP transferred the Baliapal IIC Prabhu to District Police Headquarters later. Remuna IIC Ranjit Kumar Sahu was handed over charge as the IIC of Baliapal.
Considering the gravity of the case, DGP RP Sharma has directed state Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) to take up investigation of the case. A team of the HRPC under Investigating Officer DSP Ranjit Naik investigated the matter.
Senior police officials said a murder case was registered based on the complaint filed by the family of the deceased boy.
The concerned inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Baliapal police station, Prabhu Kalyan Acharya, who was attacked by the public over the matter, has been transferred by Balasore SP.
It was alleged that the post-mortem of the minor boy was conducted without informing his family. The bereaved family demanded a compensation of Rs 20 lakh and immediate arrest of the accused.
Umakant Mohapatra, a representative of the Balasore MP, said the police should act against the accused, instead of innocent people.
PNN