Anger and outrage is running high among the locals in Komna, Khariar and Nuapada after the body of a local youth, who had gone missing for the past five days after being allegedly beaten up at the Special Operations Group (SOG) camp at the Sunabeda sanctuary in Nuapada district, was recovered in forests on Friday.
Police recovered the body of Chittaranjan Sahu, the youth allegedly tortured at the SOG camp, from the Dhakili forest in the district. Sahu’s body was taken to the Komna post-mortem centre amid tight police security for conduct of autopsy.
The locals of Komna and Khariar observed an indefinite bandh protesting the atrocity of the anti-insurgency forces. While shops and establishments remained closed, traffic was affected in the towns. Protests were also reported over the incident at several places in Nuapada district, including at the district headquarters town.
locals in both the towns gave bandh calls on a five-point charter of demands, which include Rs 20 lakh as compensation to the deceased’s family, treatment cost to those undergoing treatment after being tortured at the SOG camp and action against security personnel responsible for the torture that caused the death of the youth. All political parties are supporting the bandh.
Five platoons of policemen have been deployed at Komna to maintain law and order. South Western range DIG S Shyni and the Commandant SOG have arrived at Nuapada to conduct a probe into the alleged
death due to torture at the SOG camp.
On Wednesday, over 500 locals had gheraoed the Komna police station while schools and colleges, shops and establishments had downed their shutters in protest. locals had blocked roads and the national highway connecting Raipur with Gopalpur, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded on either side of the highway.
Allegedly, SOG personnel engaged in anti-Maoist operations had picked up three local youths who were on a sight-seeing visit to the Sunabeda sanctuary and had subjected them to torture at their camp. While one of them succumbed to the torture, another was shifted to VIMSAR, Burla for treatment as his condition deteriorated. The third, being a minor, was kept at the Komna police station.
While SOG personnel have admitted that they had detained him and claim that he managed to slip away from the camp, villagers allege that the security men have beaten him to death and have thrown away his body.
Meanwhile, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the ADG of the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) of Odisha police for a report on the alleged custodial death.
Acting on a petition filed by lawyer and human rights activist Prabir Das, OHRC asked the ADG, HRPC to file a detailed report on the incident by October 1.