SAMBALPUR: The return of Piplipali youth, who was believed to have been murdered 19 months back, has landed Paikmal police in a soup with legal experts accusing the cops of violating human rights of the two youths arrested in the case.Questions are being raised on the action of police who had arrested Halu Gurla and Raghab Naik, both 22 years of age and hailing from Bargarh town, on charges of killing 19-year-old Jitu Dansana and slapped Section 302 of the IPC on the duo despite being unable to trace his body.
Senior lawyer of Sambalpur District Bar Association Pradip Bohidar said police had not recovered Jitu’s body. Moreover, they didn’t have any evidence about disposal of the body. “I don’t understand why a case under under Section 302 of the IPC was registered,” Bohidar said.Wrong facts have been produced before the court in order to dispose of the case in a hurry by putting someone behind the bars, he said.
The lawyer further said chargesheet in the case has been filed based on only confessional statement and without any supportive evidence. Confessional statement could not become prima facie evidence. The statement of the two arrested should have been recorded under Section 164 of CrPC before a magistrate before filing the chargesheet, Bohidar said and added that this is a glaring example of human rights violation.
Retired Inspector General (IG) of Police Dhaneswar Pati opined that one cannot be declared dead without adequate evidence. Police should have slapped Section 302 after getting concrete evidence. The cops dealt with the matter carelessly and made a blunder, he said.On the other hand, police said Halu and Raghab were arrested under Section 302 on the basis of their confession. Padampur Sub-Divisional Police Officer Laxminarayan Panda, who was the supervising officer of the case, said the duo confessed to have murdered Jitu after looting cash and mobile from him. They had also admitted to have dumped his body on the bed of Jeera river. Police had searched for the body using an excavator but failed to trace the body, he said.
Panda said as per the guideline of the Supreme Court, police can also file chargesheet without recovering the body. Based on circumstantial evidence, the chargesheet can be filed, he added.Jitu went missing on December 7, 2016 and after failing to trace him, his family members lodged a missing complaint with Paikmal police on December 24. Subsequently, police arrested Halu and Raghab Naik for Jitu’s murder on June 28 after the duo reportedly confessed to their crime.However, Jitu was found alive in Kolkata following which his family members brought him home on Tuesday.On Wednesday, Halu accused the police of torturing him to extract his confession. Similar allegation was also made by Raghab’s sister Pratima. Both the youths are out on bail now.
OHRC directs CB probe
Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Human Rights Commission (OHRC) on Thursday directed the Crime Branch to investigate the mysterious disappearance of Jitu Dansana from Piplipali village on December 7, 2016 and his subsequent return from Kolkata on Tuesday. The OHRC directed Crime Branch ADG to submit a report in this regard within six weeks. The Commission said if it is found that the youth is suffering from any mental disorder or illness, he should be provided proper treatment. It directed Bargarh Collector and CDMO to make necessary arrangements for treatment of Jitu.
The Commission also directed Revenue Divisional Commissioner (Northern) Division, Bargarh SP and authorities of VIMSAR, Burla to submit their respective action taken reports within six weeks. Earlier on the day, rights activist Biswapriya Kanungo along with lawyers Chandranath Dani and Bijay Kumar Panda filed a petition with OHRC demanding action against the cops for arresting Halu Gurla and Raghab Naik, who are innocents, on charges of murdering Jitu.
The petitioners also urged the Commission to direct the authorities concerned for providing `20 lakh compensation to Jitu and `2 lakh each to Halu and Raghab for the harassment they faced in custody. Kanungo said, “We filed a petition with the Commission along with news clipping of ‘The New Indian Express’. We have requested OHRC to direct an independent organisation to probe into the incident.”