Aggrieved people on Monday gheraoed the Angul Collector’s office protesting the death of an accused, Dhananjaya Sahu, of Santarabandha under the Chhendipada police station who had been arrested on Thursday last.
People including villagers of Santarabandha and BJP and Congress workers demonstrated in front of the offices of the Collector and the SP alleging that Dhananjaya died after being severely beaten by police at Chhendipada.
Dhananjaya along with five others were lifted in the midnight of Thursday from his house and subsequently arrested in a case in which he was an accused for manhandling, beating and keeping confined Panchayat Executive Officer Pramod Sahu.
It was alleged that the Panchayat Executive Officer was changing the Pallisabha resolution as per the wish of BJD leaders. A group of villagers confined the officer and manhandled him.
In this case, police arrested Dhananjaya but released him the next day due to his ill health. Dhanananjaya subsequently died.
People alleged that after Dhananjaya was taken into custody, he was severely beaten by the Chhendipada police, which caused his death.
Congress State Mahila Congress president Sasmita Behera and BJP leader Santosh Naik demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident. They also demanded Rs 50 lakh as compensation to the deceased’s family and arrest of the concerned police officials.