Central Revenue Division Commissioner (RDC) A B Ota, who is currently probing into last year’s police firing on anti-liquor agitators at Namtara village in Kendrapada district, is unlikely to submit his report to the State Government within the stipulated date of October 31.
Recording the depositions of two more witnesses on Thursday, Ota, who is also now probing into the SUM Hospital fire tragedy, informed that he would take eight to 10 days more to submit the Namtara incident report to the government. “I will intimate about it the government,” the RDC said after recording the statements of the then Kendrapada Sub-Collector and SDPO.
At least nine persons, including women and children, had suffered bullet injuries when police opened indiscriminate firing on the agitators in March 2015. Following a massive public outcry, the Government was forced to order an administrative probe into the police excess.
The RDC twice visited the spot and has recorded the statements after examining over 50 witnesses, including that of the then district collector and SP. After initial hiccups, the suspended IPS officer Satish Kumar Gajbhiye, who was officiating as district SP when the incident occurred, also deposed before the RDC.