BHUBANESWAR: Four years after the state police claimed to have gunned down a Maoist in Rayagada district, the Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has given him a clean chit and said he was not associated with any Maoist outfit.
Taking strong note of the alleged fake encounter, the OHRC has asked the state government to pay Rs 1.5 lakh compensation to the next of kin of Manda Kadraka, the deceased.
The commission issued the order on November 10 on the basis of separate complaints filed by human rights activists, Prabir Kumar Das and Biswapriya Kanungo. The duo had moved the OHRC alleging that police had killed Kadraka by falsely branding him as a Maoist.
During the hearing, police claimed that Kadraka, along with others, was present in a Maoist camp at Niyamgiri hills under the Kalyansingpur police limits in Rayagada district on the intervening night of February 26 and 27, 2016. They said they had surrounded the camp and asked the suspected Maoists to surrender. They also claimed that the suspected Maoists had opened fire on them, forcing them to retaliate. Kadraka, who was present in the Maoist camp, was killed in the exchange of fire. The police said the rebel camp was organised by Maoist leader Sukdev alias Bunty.
The commission also went through the inquiry report of the revenue divisional commissioner (southern range), who had claimed that Kadraka and other suspected Maoists had hatched a conspiracy to kill the district collector and superintendent of police.
In its order, the commission said the opposite party (police) failed to substantiate the claim that Kadraka was a Maoist. “It would not suffice to just make a claim that he stayed in the Maoist camp and planned to kill the collector and SP. There was not an iota of evidence against Kadraka that he had indulged in Maoist-related offences and was planning to kill the collector and SP,” the order said.
It further read, “It cannot be said the deceased was part of any Maoist group. The state is liable to pay compensation. The state home department should pay Rs 1.5 lakh compensation to the next of the kin of the deceased.”
When contacted, the state police headquarters said they would go through the OHRC order. Senior police officials, dealing with anti-extremist operations, still claimed Kadraka was a Maoist.
“It was not a fake encounter. According to our procedure, we had sent a report to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) about the exchange of fire. The NHRC had acknowledged our operation and said the exchange of fire was genuine. Three police officers of Rayagada had also received the President’s police medal for gallantry for the successful anti-Maoist operation,” a senior police officer told TOI.