BHUBANESWAR: In a shocking incident of police apathy and callousness in the State Capital, a tribal family was left hopelessly running from pillar to post in search of their missing minor son only to learn after five days that he was grievously hurt in a road mishap in the City and cremated in Cuttack after succumbing to his injuries at SCB Medical College.
For five days, officers of Nayapalli Police Station, where the 15-year-old boy Ishak Digal’s father had lodged a missing person’s report on June 8, neither had any clue nor inclination to investigate. Thanks to the cops, the family was deprived of an opportunity to perform last rites of their child.
The minor, Ishak Digal, had gone missing from his home in Salia Sahi’s Adivasi Basti on June 8 and his family lodged a missing case the same evening at Nayapalli police station. Hours later, Ishak was hit by a two-wheeler near Biju Patnaik College Square under the same police limits and was rushed to Capital Hospital.
However, such was the inefficiency of local police that neither did they attempt to identify the boy nor inform his parents on time.
A critically injured Ishak was shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital where he succumbed next day. With none to identify and claim the body, Ishak was cremated by Mangalabag Police on June 12 but till then Nayapalli Police simply had no clue about it.
According to the victim’s father Pabitra Digal, Ishak left home after an argument with his parents on June 8. When Digal was untraceable for over five hours, his family filed a complaint along with the minor’s photograph with Nayapalli Police in the evening. At around 11.30 pm, Ishak was knocked down by a biker near Biju Patnaik College. He suffered head injuries and was rushed to Capital Hospital by a PCR from under Nayapalli PS jurisdiction.
As his condition deteriorated, the doctors referred him to Cuttack. He succumbed on June 9 and the body was under custody of Mangalabag Police which waited for 72 hours before cremating it.
Contacted, Nayapalli police station IIC Suryamani Pradhan said photos of the accident victim had been circulated to all police stations in the State. He had no answers why the police could not match identity of the injured Ishak with that of the pictures provided by the family.
On June 13, when Nayapalli Police finally learnt the matter, it sent the family to Mangalabag Police Station where the latter identified the clothes of the minor. On Friday, Digal’s family staged an agitation before Nayapalli police station. The bereaved family was assured a compensation from Red Cross Fund and arrest of the biker who hit Digal.