Bhubaneswar: Days after allegations of custodial torture surfaced at Chandaka, Kabisuryanagar and Talachua Marine police stations, another case has emerged from Khordha district, where a family has accused Banpur police of torturing a man to death.
The deceased was identified as Tofan Nayak of Bhimpur village. His family alleged that police detained him on suspicion of theft and subjected him to third-degree torture at the police station, leading to his death. They also claimed injury marks were visible on his body. Tofan’s wife alleged that both police personnel and some villagers assaulted him.
The family has demanded a high-level probe into the incident and sought the arrest of the police officers and villagers involved in the incident. According to the family, To Fan, a married man with two daughters and a son, earned a living by harvesting coconuts. On Sunday, he had gone to a villager’s house for work and knocked on the door to call them for any work.
They alleged that the residents, instead, accused him of child theft, tied him up and assaulted him. Informed, Banpur police reportedly rescued Tofan from the villagers and took him to the police station. The family alleged that he was again beaten in custody, leaving him critically injured. They further claimed that police summoned Tofan’s mother to the station around 10 pm Sunday. When she arrived, she allegedly found him unconscious.
According to the family, police then asked them to take him home. Police had not issued an official response to the allegations at the time of filing this report. Family members told police they could not take Tofan home because he was unconscious and in critical condition. Police then shifted him to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar, where doctors declared him dead.
The family and supporters staged a protest at the hospital, accusing police of beating To fan to death, as they found in jury marks on the body. They demanded an impartial investigation into the incident and strict action against the police personnel found responsible. Rubbishing the allegations, Banpur police station inspector Jyoti Prakash Parida said, “Some villagers had tied up and assault ed Tofan Sunday after suspecting him of theft.
Police rescued him and brought him to the station. He was not assaulted.” “We handed him over to his family in good health. We are also surprised by his death,” Parida said. He added that investigators would examine all possible angles.
