BHUBANESWAR: The State Government has directed Director General of Police (DGP) to take action on a petition filed by the mother of a prisoner seeking reinvestigation of the case in which he was convicted for life. The DGP has also been asked to submit an action taken report to Home Department within a week. Though the police chief was told to act on her grievance petition in September last year and February, no action has been taken yet despite reminders.
In April last year, Susama Mediniray of Balasore had approached President of India seeking justice for her son Pradip Mediniray (45), who is serving life imprisonment in connection with rape and murder of a teenager.Claiming Pradip to be innocent, she had blamed police administration for not conducting an impartial inquiry and the State Government for not recommending CBI probe. A native of Chatarsahi village under Nilagiri police limits, Pradip was awarded life imprisonment by district and sessions judge in 2013, 22 years back. He has challenged the judgment in High Court.
Pradip, then a student leader, has been falsely framed in the case by his political rivals. Cops called him to the police station and arrested a few days after the incident. The Crime Branch officials too held him guilty without interrogation. Later, he was convicted on the basis of planted witnesses, Susama said in her petition.
Though he was granted bail the same year, he was arrested in 2009 and since then he has been lodged in the jail. “No action was taken despite a direction from the President’s office to the Chief Secretary. My son is no way involved in the case and the postmortem report has exposed lacunae in police investigation. The case should be reopened and handed over to CBI or we may be given permission for mercy death,” she sought.