Kendrapara: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a show cause notice to Odisha Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena asking why a compensation of Rs 7 lakh will not be paid to the next of kin of deceased, Dhaneswar Behera, who was allegedly killed by Forest department officials. Acting on a petition filed by human rights activist Radhakanta Tripathy, the NHRC issued the show cause notice May 24. It has directed the Chief Secretary to reply within four weeks. Tripathy, in his petition, alleged that Behera of Khuntakata village under Badamba police limits of Cuttack district was detained by Forest department officials on charges of poaching a tusker and removing its tusks in the first week of February this year.
Later, Behera was found dead in the custody of the Forest Department under mysterious circumstances. The villagers and family members of the victim alleged that he was beaten and tortured by Forest officials leading to his death. A case has been registered against six Forest Department officials in this matter. They are Subrat Kumar Behera, Manoj Das, Deepak Kumar Sethi, Sunayak Majhi, Kuna Behera, and Pravat Pradhan. They were arrested and produced in court May 6 and since then they have been behind bars. They have also been suspended from their jobs since February 8, to facilitate the investigation process. Strangely, however, all reports including postmortem, chemical, and histopathological examinations of the viscera are yet to be received by the probe officials.
