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.
The 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 had subsequently charged the accused duo of killing him and burying the body in a riverbed.
Duo spent several weeks in judicial custody
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 subdivisional police officer, Padampur. Panda was then supervising the investigation. “Both the investigating officer and the supervising officer were negligent,” the order said. Though the OHRC reprimanded Panda, it did not punish him as he will retire soon.