Odisha Human Rights Watchdog Grants Rs 50K Compensation In Mistaken Identity Case

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) has asked the state government to pay Rs 50,000 as compensation to Bharat Kumar Barik, who was arrested in 2017 over mistaken identity and put behind bars for the crime he had never committed.

The OHRC chairman, Justice Raghubir Dash, directed the government to make the payment within two months while hearing two separate petitions filed by victim’s father Bishnu Charan Barik and human rights activist Prabir Kumar Das.

A copy of the order has been sent to Principal Secretary of Home department and the DG of Police for necessary compliance, sources said.

A native of Palasudha village in Jagatsinghpur, Bharat Kumar Barik was arrested as a co-accused in the 2010 bombing incident at Madhupatna.

He used to work in Karnataka and had come home on October 29. But Madhupatna police picked him up from there seven days later on November 5, 2017. The following day, he was was forwarded to the court and sent him to Choudwar circle jail. He had to spend a week in jail before being released after the Court of District Judge, Cuttack, granted him bail.

“Subsequently, it was detected that Bharat Bhusan Barik of Alasudha village was the real accused in that case,” said Das.