CUTTACK: Village committees running Kangaroo courts in Khalipatna and Kotaranga villages under Sarankul police limits in Nayagarh district are engaged in looting villagers in the name of justice, forcing them to desert their homes.The committee members impose hefty fines even in small offences and on non-payment of the amount, the villagers are assaulted, disgraced in public and asked to leave the village. Their property is also looted. The allegations were made in a PIL filed in Orissa High Court by Nanda Kishore Jena (69) and 10 others of the two villages on Wednesday.
“Due to the atrocities by Kangaroo court at least 20 families had been forced to leave behind their homestead and agricultural lands and flee the village. Away from their village, they are leading a life in extreme hardship without any livelihood means, the petitioners alleged.
According to the petition, Kangaroo courts run by the village committee led by Lingaraj Patra, Bhagaban Kar and Jagabandhu Jena and some other villagers impose fines ranging from `1,000 to `55,000 by showing minor causes. The houses of villagers are looted and their crops destroyed when they express their inability to pay the fine. They are assaulted, disgraced in public and asked to leave the village,” the petitioners alleged.
The petitioners prayed before the High Court to direct the authorities concerned to take action against the culprits and ban Kangaroo court system in the two villages. The petition also prayed the Court to direct for formation of a peace committee to restore normalcy in the villages.
The petition stated that repeated efforts to stop the inhuman practice by drawing the attention of higher authorities concerned has yielded no result. Representations were submitted to Director General of Police in 2007 and 2015 besides the Odisha Human Rights Commission in 2007.