Malkangiri: Malkangiri district Collector Tuesday directed the District Child Protection Unit to probe into the charge of four minor boys allegedly being tortured and given electric shock at the Chitrakonda police station in the district.
Accordingly, the DCPO accompanied by the district law officer visited the houses of minors in Chitrakonda and conducted a probe by interacting with their family members. A report will be prepared on their visit and submitted to the Collector, the DCPO said.
According to reports, the minors were released from the custody and handed over to their family members after a court granted them bail late Monday night. One of the minors having no surviving family members was rehabilitated at a child protection centre in Berhampur.
Reports said that, police picked up the four boys from their houses last Saturday on charge of theft from a provision store. The boys were accused of stealing biscuits and some food products from the shop.
The four were allegedly subjected to brutal torture in the custody for the next three days and also given electric shock instead of producing them before the juvenile justice board within a period of 24-hours, family members alleged.
Two of the minors are aged 13 years while one is 15 years and another is 16 years old. The policemen thrashed them mercilessly and also gave electric shock. The minors were found bleeding from nose and mouth due to the inhuman torture, a local resident of Chitrakonda alleged.
However, Chitrakonda police station IIC, Surya Prakash Nayak dismissed the allegations. He said that the four committed burglary from a shop. An investigation indicated the involvement of the four boys in the theft and termed the charges baseless and untrue as the accused are habitual offenders, Nayak said.
The four also alleged that they were beaten by outsiders at the police station. The police official also said that the stolen goods have been recovered from the houses of the accused.
PNN