ROURKELA: A pastor of a local church has alleged that he underwent custodial torture at the hands of police personnel at the Bondamunda police station.
Pastor Bilken Bhengra (55) runs a private security agency. He was taken into custody by the police for allegedly duping two private security guards. He was tortured when he disagreed to pay the money back to the security guards if he was not given an opportunity to explain his version. The police beat him up with a baton. The alleged torture took place on the night of May 7. He was admitted to the Hi-Tech Medical College and Hospital (HTMCH). After his discharge from the hospital, he approached the Rourkela Superintendent of Police seeking justice.
Bhengra said he appeared at Bondamunda police station on the evening of May 7 after a complaint was lodged against him. He alleged that the inspector-in-charge of the police station Bulu Swain thrashed and abused him for declining to pay back the amount due for the security guards.
Bhengra said he runs a private security agency. He claimed that he takes Rs 2,000 from the salary of each new recruit for providing them with uniforms, shoes, and other materials.
He said recently a private school in the adjoining Jharkhand approached him for security guards for the school. But some agents working for his agency collected Rs 8,000 to Rs 10,000 from a few youths for the offer.
People in his neighbourhood said that even if Bhengra is guilty, the police have got no right to torture him.
On Thursday, Bhengra’s family members and others, including BJP’s Panposh organisational district general secretary Shashank Sekhar Jena brought the custodial torture to the notice of Rourkela SP Mukesh K Bhamoo. The BJP leader said the SP assured them of action and asked an Additional SP (ASP) to inquire into the matter.
Additional AP Bikram Keshari Bhoi said though no written complaint has been received yet, police have launched an inquiry, "Appropriate action would be taken after proper investigation," he assured.
In the past two years, multiple allegations of custodial torture and police highhandedness have come to light in the steel city.
In February 2021, a sub-inspector of Uditnagar police station was suspended by the Rourkela SP after he was found guilty of torturing a school student for his suspected involvement in a mobile theft case.
In June 2022, a youth accused Bonai police of torturing him for a petty theft that he did not commit. In a case of police highhandedness, four minor boys were detained at the Sector-7 police station overnight in April 2022 over a parking fee collection issue.