Barbil: Tension ran high at the Jhadagaon parking area near here in Keonjhar district after two cops assaulted a tipper driver and his helper over a petty issue Saturday.
The injured driver was admitted to the local community health centre (CHC). The assistant was also hospitalised for treatment of the injuries caused on him by rogue cops. The driver was Umakant Palei, employee of Trishakti Logistics.
Palei was taking his goods-laden vehicle from Bhadrasahi to Rugudi. The two cops intercepted him, claimed he drove the vehicle through a No Entry zone, and asked him to park the vehicle alongside the main road. Palei did so. However, the cops let four large vehicles pass through the same way. Palei questioned the cops as to why the other vehicles were allowed passage.
Furious cops assaulted Palei and the vehicle’s helper. Cops took them to the police station where they were again tortured.
When Palei’s condition worsened due to police torture, he was taken from the station to the district hospital.
Now, Barbil inspector Jagannath Mallick is coming up with an altogether different, patently cooked up, version of the incident. He says Palei tried to pelt stones at the cops. Activists in the town have taken serious objection to the highhandedness of the two cops and demanded their suspension from service.
PNN
