Bhubaneswar: A total of 2,483 cases of atrocity against people in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories have been recorded in various police stations of Odisha in the last nine months, a minister informed the Assembly Friday.
These cases were registered between June 2024 and February 2025 under the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, said Nityanada Gond, Minister for ST and SC Development, Minorities and Backward Classes Welfare, in a written reply to a query from BJD MLA Sanjib Kumar Mallick.
Notably, the BJP formed the government in Odisha June 12, 2024, after ending the 24-year rule of the Naveen Patnaik-led BJD government.
As per data provided by the minister, the majority of the cases of atrocity on SCs and STs were reported in the Jajpur district.
While 269 such cases were registered in Jajpur, 159 cases were recorded in the Cuttack Rural police district and 157 in the Jagatsinghpur district.
Similarly, Bolangir district reported 156 cases, followed by Puri (153), Bhubaneswar Urban police district (138), Bhadrak (126), Kendrapara (125), and Mayurbhanj (100).
The remaining police districts reported less than 100 cases each during the last nine months, he said.
During the period, an average of 218 to 316 such cases were registered every month.
Gond said the cases of atrocities against SCs and STs were being investigated by a DSP rank officer.
The government has been providing compensation to the SCST atrocity victims after conducting a joint probe by the investigating police officer and a revenue department official, he added.
PTI