BHUBANESWAR: In what may leave the state police embarrassed, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has come down heavily on an inspector for his alleged negligence in arresting two youths for the alleged murder of a minor, who turned out to be alive.
The commission has asked the state government to pay Rs 2.5 lakh compensation each to Halu Gurla and Raghab Naik for the negligence of inspector Prakash Kumar Karna. It has asked the government to recover the compensation amount from the salary of Karna.
OHRC’s chairperson Justice Bimal Prasad Das and member Asim Amitabh Dash issued the order on Monday (November 9) and asked the government to furnish a compliance report within two months. The order was passed on the basis of a complaint filed by human rights activists Biswapriya Kanungo and Bijay Kumar Panda.
While serving as the inspector-in-charge (IIC) of Paikamal police station in Bargarh district, Karna had registered a case on December 25, 2016 with regard to the missing of Jitu Dandasena, a minor of the locality.
Karna, who is currently the IIC of Kuchinda police station in Sambalpur district, had arrested Gurla and Naik on June 28, 2017 in connection with the alleged abduction of Dandasena. He subsequently charged the accused duo of killing him and burying the body in a riverbed.
The duo had spent several weeks in judicial custody. Naik was released from jail on November 18, 2017 while Gurla came out of jail on March 7, 2018.
The shoddy investigation of the police came to the fore when Dandasena surfaced and returned home on July 10, 2018. He told the police that he had gone to Kolkata.
Taking serious note of the poor police probe and the arrest of the two youths in the false murder case, the human rights activists Kanungo and Panda moved the OHRC on July 12, 2018. The complaint was filed against Karna as well as L N Panda, the former sub-divisional police officer, Padampur. Panda was then supervising the investigation.
“During the hearing, Karna was found to be arrogant. In his first personal appearance, he came without being properly dressed. His written submission before us looked uncourteous. He wanted us to dismiss the complaint. The police officer was not just arrogant, careless and negligent, but had scant regard for the court. He directed us to pass an order in his favour,” the OHRC order said. The OHRC has asked the state police to train cops in court decorum and manners.
“Both the investigating officer and the supervising officer were negligent. Had the missing boy not surfaced, the two innocent youths would have got capital punishment after the end of the court trial. The family members of the missing boy were in trauma as the police had told them that he was murdered. These types of indecorous officers are unbecoming of the police force. They are bad examples," the OHRC said. The rights panel reprimanded Panda, but did not punish him as he will retire soon.