BHUBANESWAR: The Odisha Human Rights Commission on Wednesday awarded a compensation of `4 lakh to the family of Chandan Kumar Das who allegedly committed suicide in the custody of Baripada police on December 1, 2015.
The Commission noted that there was a complete mismatch of the versions of local police during an inquiry conducted by DSP, HRPC, Baripada. ‘’The conduct of police staff is highly suspicious and it can be concluded that there was foul play in the entire incident,’’ the judgment stated.
The mother and brother of the deceased alleged that the death of Das was due to torture in police custody. They also alleged that the CCTV camera in the police station was out of order due to which the treatment meted out to Das could not be recorded.
SP, Mayurbhanj was also asked to initiate an inquiry into the matter and submit his report to the Commission. A resident of Tulasi Chaura area of Baripada town, Das (32) was arrested by police on charges of theft on November 30.
The OHRC has directed the Home Department to pay the compensation to the parents of the deceased within a period of two months.