After 70 days of ‘illegal’ incarceration, founder and chairperson of Shanti, a Delhi-based NGO fighting for social justice and Constitutional rights of people, Bhajaman Biswal, has sought intervention of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) against the Dhenkanal police and district administration for their “unlawful act”.
Briefing mediapersons here about the police atrocity, Biswal, also a rights activist, said the Tumusinga police station OIC lingaraj lenka, Kamakhyanagar PS IIC Pravat Kumar Tripathy along with the Dhenkanal SDPO with guidance of their superiors and even the local Sub-Collector beat him along with four of his associates black and blue and implicated them in false cases and sent them to jail as he was fighting for justice for family members of youth who was murdered.
“On August 8, Gouranga Charan Prusti of Tangar village under Tumusinga police station was killed in the same village in connection with love affair. Dissatisfied over the police and district administration’s action, the deceased’s family members contacted us for justice,” said Biswal, adding that following the request he contacted the concerned officials in this regard.
“After getting a request from the Tumusinga PS OIC, I reached Dhenkanal on September 12. Next day, the Dhenkanal SDPO called me to the Pandua police outpost and tried to bribe me asking me to step down from the arrest demand. “When I rejected the offer and threatened to lodge complaints before concerned higher authorities, nearly 100 police personnel along with the SDPO attacked me and four of my associates and sent us to jail implicating us in false cases,” alleged Biswal.
“I urge the NHRC to order a judiciary inquiry into the police attack, a Vigilance inquiry of the bank accounts and properties of these police officials and a CBI probe into the murder case, besides suspension of the errant police officials along with the Dhenkanal Sub-Collector,” said Biswal.