Baranga: In the wake of mounting public outrage and allegations of severe custodial torture, Baranga police station IIC Niranjan Behera has been transferred to the Cuttack Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) office, sources said on Sunday.
He was shunted after irate residents of Chandiprasad village blocked the Trisulia-Bhubaneswar road in front of the Barang police station on May 29, demanding information on his health condition and whereabouts. Purighat police station IIC Biswaranjan Nayak has been given additional charge of Baranga police station. He will oversee the station’s functioning until further notice.
According to top department officials, the decision was taken to ensure an unbiased and transparent investigation into the incident.
The Allegations: Secret Hospitalisation and ‘Third-Degree’ Abuse
The controversy erupted after family and villagers alleged that 32-year-old Rakesh Behera was allegedly subjected to third-degree torture at Baranga police station after his detention on May 21 following the recovery of a half-buried body of a woman from the bed of river Kathajodi near Brahmanigaon. Rakesh’s wife had gone missing on May 15, following which he had filed a missing complaint. This had apparently led the cops to detain him.
Compounding the family’s outrage were allegations that the police tried to cover up the severity of Rakesh’s condition. He was allegedly secretly admitted him to a private healthcare facility without informing his family.
He was undergoing treatment in the central ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital before being shifted to the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) department on Friday. Rakesh’s mother-in-law, Minati Sahu, who had been attending to him at the hospital, however, informed villagers that staff and police personnel had taken him away in an ambulance.
Widespread Protests Paralyze Traffic
The news of his alleged secret hospitalisation sparked rumours of his death. Local residents and villagers laid siege to the Baranga police station and blocked the Trisulia-Bhubaneswar road from around 2 pm, accusing police of concealing details about his whereabouts and condition. The blockade disrupted vehicular movement on the stretch for several hours, forcing senior police officers to intervene. Following the discussions, eight to 10 villagers went to SCB MCH and confirmed that Rakesh had indeed been shifted to the CTVS department.
Police maintained that Rakesh, who was reportedly suffering from kidney and heart complications, was shifted to the CTVS department on doctors’ advice and was undergoing treatment with the support of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine.