Puri/Kuanrmunda: Tension prevailed in Puri and Sundargarh, Thursday, over the alleged death of two persons in police custody with the BJP demanding Rs 1-crore compensation to the family of the deceased.
Relatives of deceased K Ramesh in Puri alleged that the 32-year-old died due to torture in police custody. However, Puri Superintendent of Police (SP) Akhilesvar Singh rejected the allegation and claimed that Ramesh died Wednesday following a scuffle with police.
Singh claimed that Ramesh had earlier been booked in four cases at different police stations in Puri. “Ramesh had snatched away Rs 5 lakh from a person under Puri Sadar police limits after resorting to firing. He was booked by Sea Beach police for extortion and by Kumbharpada police for some other crimes. He had been released from Angul jail recently,” Singh said.
The SP said the case would be thoroughly probed as per the guidelines laid by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to deal with custodial death allegation.
“A case has been registered with Baselisahi police under Section 341, 323 and 307 of IPC. The Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) DSP will probe the incident while the Additional SP will supervise the investigation,” said the SP.
Relatives of Ramesh, however, said, “Ramesh died due to torture in police custody. Police have also detained his parents. Police did not hand over the body to us after postmortem. They hurriedly cremated the body at Swargadwar without informing anything to us,” they alleged.
The incident triggered protests from various quarters. Activists of Congress and BJP along with the locals held a sit-in in front of the DHH. They also scuffled with the police when the latter did not allow the victim’s body to his relatives. The activists later held a demonstration in front of the SP office.
“There is no truth in the version given by the SP. If somebody has committed a crime then there is the judiciary to punish him. Who has given police the power to torture an accused? Police officials must change their attitude towards people,” said Congress leader Binayak Dasmahapatra.
On the other hand, a BJP delegation led by Leader of Opposition in Odisha Assembly, Pradipta Naik, met the relatives of the deceased and sought an investigation by a sitting judge. The BJP delegation also sought Rs 1-crore compensation for victim’s family and stripping the SP of his duties.
The Sachetan Nagarik Manch, a voluntary outfit, approached the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) and sought the dismissal of Baselisahi police IIC. “A compensation of Rs 15 lakh should be provided to the victim’s family. The amount must be recovered from Baselisahi IIC’s salary. Senior officials of the state government should investigate the incident,” said outfit president Prasanna Kumar Dash.
Similarly, advocate Gopalkrushna Panda lodged an FIR against Baselisahi police IIC. Puri lawyers association has also lodged a complaint with the district administration in this regard.
Likewise, the death of a 24-year-old man allegedly in the custody of Biramitrapur police in Sundargarh district triggered protests Thursday. Hundreds of irate locals assembled in front of the police station and attempted to barge into it demanding action agonist the erring police officials, Thursday.
Security men, however, managed to prevent their entry.