Sambalpur: In yet another case of alleged police excesses, Biju Mohapatra, a youth of Kardola village under Burla police limits in this district, was mercilessly beaten up by Chipilima outpost officer over a trivial issue.
His family Saturday lodged a written complaint at SP office here to get justice. Though the incident took place five days back, no case has been registered against outpost officer Birabar Bhagat, they said and demanded stringent action against the accused. In the absence of SP Akhileswar Singh, the family handed over the complaint to ASP BK Patnaik. Instead of giving justice to the victim, the police administration tries to suppress the case, they alleged.
According to the complainants, the outpost officer had forced Biju to marry a girl from Chipilima seven months back. Since then the couple had been staying at Chipilima. Meanwhile, Biju’s mother-in-law called the outpost officer to his residence June 14 over a minor issue between the husband and wife. However, without verifying the facts, Bhagat started beating up Biju mercilessly with a wooden plank leaving him critically injured.
His neighbours also didn’t dare to resist the officer. Besides, Burla police rejected his FIR and refused to register a case in the matter. At present, the victim is undergoing treatment in bed-143 of surgery ward of VIMSAR, the complaint said.
When contacted, ASP Patnaik said Abakash Routray, the SDPO of Hirakud has been asked to conduct a probe and submit a report in the matter.
Terming the charge against him baseless, accused Bhagat said earlier a case was registered against Biju in Burla police station and he has implicated him to mislead others. “Moreover, Biju was beaten up by others over a fight with his wife and I went there to rescue him. This is part of a political conspiracy to malign me,” the outpost officer said. PNN
