CUTTACK: DGP YB Khurania on Monday directed the Human Rights Protection Cell (HRPC) to conduct an inquiry into the alleged custodial torture of a detainee at Barang police station.
Khurania has directed HRPC to look into two cases - an unnatural death case no 19/2026 registered in Barang police station and another case no-361/2026 registered in Cuttack Sadar police station as both the cases are related to the alleged custodial torture of 32-year-old Rakesh Behera of Chandiprasad village.
An unnatural death case was registered in Barang police station after a half-buried body of an unidentified woman was recovered from the Kathajodi riverbed near Brahmanigan on May 21. Rakesh was called for questioning as his wife had gone missing on May 15. Rakesh’s family members and villagers alleged that he was allegedly detained illegally and assaulted by police despite the fact that the body recovered from the riverbed was not of his wife and she was later traced to Delhi.
Barang police later claimed Rakesh was released after it was confirmed that the body was not of his wife. They said he was admitted to a private hospital in Phulnakhara after being injured in a bike accident following which an accident case was registered in Sadar police station on May 26.