Expressing its displeasure over the slow progress of investigations into the FIRs registered in connection with the faceoff between lawyers and police of Cuttack, the Orissa High Court on Tuesday directed the State Government to hand over the investigation of the cases to a DIG-level police officer.
A Division Bench headed by Chief Justice KS Jhaveri after going through a status report submitted by a Crime Branch DSP observed: “…the investigation seems to be in very slow motion.” Two weeks ago, the court had directed for Crime Branch investigation into all the FIRs registered.
The DSP in his three-page report stated that the investigations into at least two FIRs are still in progress. Giving the gist of the two cases, the DSP in his report stated that more than 20 persons have been examined so far including a section of public and police.
The report further indicated that most of the people examined refused to say anything about the incident involving an advocate that took place in broad daylight on the main road of a busy marketplace here on August 28.
“Since only two nearby shops have CCTV facilities, the footages do not throw any light on the ugly incident as the area where the incident occurred was not in the coverage area of the cameras fixed.
On the other hand, the striking lawyers, who are demanding arrests of the policemen for assaulting the advocate, have reiterated their demand for a judicial inquiry into the whole incident.
The lawyers across the State have been boycotting their courts since August 29 even as three concerned policemen of Cuttack have been suspended in the meantime.