Deaths of two accused in 'police custody' spark tension in Odisha

BHUBANESWAR/ROURKELA: Deaths of two accused men in police custody in Puri and Sundargarh districts triggered mob fury at both places on Thursday. Family members alleged that the men died of police torture.
Baseli Sahi Police in Puri and Biramitrapur Police in Sundargarh had arrested R Ramesh and Mohammad Tariq, respectively, in connection with separate cases on Wednesday.While Ramesh was picked
up for allegedly planning to commit a crime, Tariq was arrested in connection with a kidnapping.
“We had received information that Ramesh was planning to commit a crime. When our personnel searched him, he was armed with sharp-edged weapons. He attacked our personnel and tried to escape. Our personnel retaliated and overpowered him,” Puri SP Akhileshvar Singh said. The SP said Ramesh and some police personnel were injured in the scuffle. “Ramesh was taken to hospital after he complained of body pain. He died during treatment,” the SP said.
Lawyers, BJP and Congress leaders staged demonstrations in Puri demanding action against the cops. “We want the errant cops to undergo a polygraph test,” Debasis Das, convener of Srikshetra Swabhiman Mancha, a civil society organisation of Puri , said.
In Sundargarh, angry friends and relatives of Tariq attempted to barge into Biramitrapur police station, prompting SP Sagarika Nath to issue a statement in which she said Tariq was taken to Rourkela government hospital after he complained of abdomen pain on Wednesday evening. She said she died
during treatment.
“We are probing the two unfortunate deaths, according to the guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission. Separate teams of doctors conducted postmortem of the deceased. The procedure was videographed,” DGP Abhay said.
Even as the DGP assured a fair probe into the two incidents, opposition BJP and Congress said they would raise the issue and worsening law and order situation in the assembly on Friday.
The conduct of state police has recently come under the scanner, with the OHRC fining two cops in Bargarh and Keonjhar districts for alleged high-handedness and pulling up police for killing
a man by branding him a Maoist in Rayagada.
The BJP took a dig at the government a day before the start of the assembly's winter session over Puri custodial death. A BJP delegation led by leader of opposition Pradipta Naik met family of the deceased at Puri and demanded Rs 1 crore compensation for the kin of Ramesh. BJP also demanded immediate transfer of Puri SP and registration of a murder case against the erring cops.