Keonjhar: It may sound strange but true. It took four and a half years for Ghatagaon police in Keonjhar to register a case on a written complaint about an extortion. It has become possible only after intervention of the High Court.
Stranger than the case is even though it was finally booked August 1, 2018, no action has been taken against the accused who have been still extorting money in the area. Oddly, even a year after the court had ordered registration of a case, police have not acted upon it.
“Despite this, illegal extortion by some people of a particular group is still on in the district,” lamented Mithun Das, the counsel for the complainant.
A private bus owners’ association had filed a complaint at Ghatagaon police station February 1, 2014, alleging that some outsiders used to extort money from buses and in the area.
However, police did not receive the complaint and sat pretty.
The complainant moved the High Court through a petition (18821/2016). The High Court had ordered police to execute the complaint on March 23, 2017.
As the HC order was not executed, the bus association filed a case of contempt of court. The court heard the case and again ordered the police to implement its December 1, 2017 order within two months.
Still, its order was not executed. The bus association again moved the court via a plea (723/2018). To escape from the legal tangle, the district administration and police termed the complaint as baseless and unfounded while deposing before the High Court.
Finally, the HC, hearing the case (CRLMP-1377/2015) of the bus association, directed the Ghatagaon police to register a case on the complaint. The police had no way but to register a case (120/2018), said Mithun Das.
As the accused in the case were not arrested, they were still found to be extorting money from the bus stand area, it is alleged. The bus association again filed a complaint against the accused people on August 10, 2018.
The association alleged that police without arresting the accused has issued a warning letter to the president and secretary of the outfit for which the accused have been working.
The same outfit has now formed a steering committee and has been raising donations from traders, common people and buses for pujas, festivals and other social works, which has caused a lot of resentment among local people.
PNN
