‘Custody’ Death In Odisha’s Paradip: Cong Targets Jagatsinghpur SP, Abhaychandapur IIC; Know Why

Paradip: The death of a youth allegedly in police custody in Odisha’s Paradip has taken a political turn with the state Congress on Sunday holding Jagatsinghpur Superintendent of Police (SP) and Abhaychandapur police station Inspector-in-Charge (IIC) responsible for the death.

The family of the youth, identified as Manoranjan Gedi, has alleged that he was picked up by the police in a narcotics case and was tortured in custody, resulting in his death.

Strongly reacting to the incident, Congress spokesperson Nishikanta Mishra said the present case has similarities with a case that took place at the Baseli Sahi police station in Puri district on November 19, 2020. In that incident, a man named K Ramesh had allegedly died in police custody.

Mishra said that Jagatsinghpur SP Akhileswar Singh and Abhaychandapur IIC Jeebananda Jena were then the Puri SP and Baseli Sahi police station IIC respectively.

“Had exemplary punishment been handed to the IIC and SP then, one more case of custodial death could have been avoided,” Mishra said.

Alleging that the post-mortem was conducted hurriedly at night, the youth’s family alleged that the police told them that he had died in an accident. Family members also questioned why the police took him to a hospital in Jagatsinghpur instead of Paradip.

“My son was never involved in any criminal activity. He was home the entire day. He left with one of his friends in the evening. Initially, police didn’t allow me to see his body. I suspect foul play,” the youth’s father said. “There was blood on his nose and his ears had swelled. He was killed in custody,” he alleged.

Abhaychandur police station IIC claimed two youths on a motorcycle were carrying brown sugar. While one of them was caught, the other youth tried to flee but fell down from the bike.

Also read: https://odishabytes.com/family-of-youth-alleges-custody-death-in-odishas-paradip-check-details/