Bhubaneswar: Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has sought a detailed report from the Commissioner of Police, Bhubaneswar-Cuttack on the custodial death at Badagada police station in Bhubaneswar.
The rights body has asked the police to submit the post-mortem examination report and other relevant documents.
The OHRC sought the report on the basis of newspaper reports and news telecasts in the electronic media on the alleged custodial death.
The Commission has pointed out that news publications have raised many questions regarding the conduct of the police while dealing with the person when he was in custody and in the present case, prima facie, the allegation of custodial violence cannot be ruled out.
The rights body has fixed the 20th of May for the next hearing in the matter.
One Pradeep Sahu, a resident of Kapilaprasad area of the city was picked up by Badagada police in connection with a bicycle theft on Sunday night.
Sahu who allegedly fell sick in the police station was taken to the Capital Hospital where attending doctors declared him brought dead.
However, confusion arose after a woman claimed that the deceased man was not Sahu but her husband, Devendra Choudhary. The woman flashing an Aadhar card identified herself as Bandita Choudhary. She demanded a probe into her husband’s death.
While this woman was talking to reporters another woman appeared on the scene and identified herself as Beena Sahu and claimed that the deceased was her husband Pradeep Sahu.
On Tuesday, Odisha Police transferred the investigating officer (IO) in the case S K Behera. An officer from the Human Rights Protection Cell will probe the death of the 46-year-old vendor.
An Additional DCP rank officer will monitor whether the investigation is taking place as per the National Human Rights Commission norms.
An investigation will be carried out into the circumstances leading to his arrest, his condition during the arrest, whether he was shifted to the hospital on time and other angles.
Bhubaneswar DCP Uma Shankar Dash has already submitted the preliminary report to NHRC .
