Nandapur: Two men in Bilaput panchayat under this block in Koraput district have accused personnel from Andhra Pradesh’s Muchimput police station of illegally detaining and assaulting them for five days after falsely accusing them of cannabis smuggling.
The victims were identified as Ramamurti Niriki of Surumi village, 32, and Suresh Khul, 39, of Godihanja village in Bilaput panchayat of Nandapur block. They have filed a complaint at Machkund police station after returning home.
Machkund police have launched an investigation, IIC Kulamani Buruda said.
According to the complaint, the two men had travelled to Kumbhirpada village in Andhra Pradesh’s Makavaram panchayat Saturday morning to visit an ailing relative.
While returning home around 2 pm in their car, they were stopped near Bandruguda by a police team led by Muchimput Sub-Inspector Nani Babu.
The complainants alleged that although police found nothing suspicious during the vehicle search, they were forcibly taken to Muchimput police station, branded as cannabis traffickers because they were from Odisha, and later confi ned in an abandoned building near the police station.
They alleged that they were handcuffed, denied food and repeatedly beaten for five days.
The officers allegedly forced them to confess to drug trafficking, assaulted them with sticks, crushed their fingers with stones and threatened to kill them in a fake encounter if they refused to admit the charges.
The two men further alleged that when their family members reached the police station, officers demanded Rs 3 lakh for their release. The families reportedly arranged Rs 2.5 lakh through loans, after which the men were released Saturday.
They also claimed police retained their mobile phones and car, allegedly demanding the remaining Rs 50,000 before returning the seized belongings.
Machkund police said the allegations are under investigation. No response from the Andhra Pradesh Police was immediately available.
After returning home, the two youths were unable to walk due to severe pain and got admitted to the Lamtaput Community Health Centre for treatment.
After their condition improved, one of the injured youths, Ra mamurti Niriki, lodged a complaint at Machkund police station Sunday evening. Machkund IIC Kulamani Buruda said Monday that an investigation into the complaint is underway.
The two youths and their family members said they would meet the Koraput Superintendent of Police and the District Collector Tuesday to submit a memorandum.
In the petition, they plan to allege that Andhra Pradesh Police personnel operating along the Odisha-Andhra border have been falsely implicating Odisha residents in criminal cases, threatening them with encounter killings, and subjecting them to physical, mental and financial harassment.
They have sought appropriate intervention by the district administration and Odisha Police.