Baripada: Following a directive from collector Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, two officials — district social welfare officer Naresh Kumar Bindhani and district child protection officer Mamatamayee Biswal– started an investigation into alleged torture of 47 inmates at an alcoholic rehabilitation centre at Kalikapur under Baripada police limits in Mayurbhanj district.
Preliminary reports revealed that the centre had been running for over a year without registration Wednesday.
It may be noted that the inmates were allegedly subjected to torture at Pratignya Nisha Nibaran Kendra at Kalikapur a few days ago. Police registered a case against its staff following a complaint by Subrat Kumar Tarei, a relative of an inmate.
The official probe team asked inmates about their problems such as food, accommodation and other facilities. They examined various records of the centre.
The workers against whom actions were taken included Abani Pati, Ramchandra Pati and Debasish Pati. Abani was arrested while the other two are absconding.
Ten inmates, who had escaped from the centre December 23, 2016 and took shelter at Baripada police station, were absent during the investigation.
During the course of the investigation, it was found that the centre had been running without registration since January 2015. Bindhani said the scope of the investigation will be widened.
According to reports, 47 alcoholic patients are under treatment at Pratignya Nisha Nibarana Kendra, but no doctor comes to attend to patients. Nor are the patients properly fed. The inmates were allegedly put to torture and ill-treatment if they objected to lack of proper food. Upset over this, 10 inmates had managed to flee the centre Thursday night and hid in an undisclosed place until they were spotted by local people. Local people rescued them and informed the police Friday night.
Following a complaint from locals, SDPO Abhimanyu Nayak and town IIC Amit Kumar Biswal along with other police officials probed the matter. Manager of the centre Abani Pati failed to produce documents of the rehab centre.
Locals alleged that police were protecting the manager instead of taking action against them. PNN
