Post News Network
Komna, August 19: Protests flared up Wednesday over an incident in which a youth went missing after allegedly being beaten up by Special Operation Group (SOG) jawans inside Sunabeda sanctuary in Nuapada district Tuesday with family members of the youth and locals gheraoing Komna police station.
Chitta Ranjan Sahu alias Bablu, son of an ex-serviceman and havildar of Sambalpur OSAP Udhab Sahu, was detained by the jawans along with two others on theft charge. Later, the three were taken to the SOG camp at Soseng inside Sunabeda sanctuary where they were tied to trees and beaten up black and blue. One of them being a minor was let off after being brought to the police station while the other youth Nutan Naik was admitted to Komna health centre in critical condition before being shifted to Burla-based VSS Medical College and Hospital. The incident triggered tension in the area with locals gheraoing the police station and staging a blockade on National Highway-353 for five hours by burning tyres. Alleging the jawans had killed Bablu, the protesters barged into the police station by breaking open its gate. The incident created a poignant scene as Bablu’s mother Sebatai Sahu thumped her chest wailing in front of the police officials asking them to return back her son dead or alive.
The protesters shouted slogans against the police and staged a demonstration inside the police station. Tension was palpable in the area which was chock-a-block with agitators.
Political leaders cutting across party lines rushed to the spot and threw their weight behind the protesters. District BJD president Prasanna Kumar Padhi, former MP Bhakta Charan Das and others participated in the agitation. Five platoons of jawans deployed at the spot stood mute spectators before the agitating locals.
On being informed, SP Pinak Mishra reached the spot and held talks with the agitating locals and family members of the youth assuring them to trace back Bablu by Thursday evening. The SP also assured the agitators of stringent action against the policemen and jawans responsible for the incident. The protesters relented after the SP’s assurance.