BHUBANESWAR: Putting the state government in an embarrassing situation, Minister of State for Home Tusharkanti Behera on Monday made an explosive statement that police and lawyers are taking commission from compensation amount of SC/ST atrocity cases.
At a function in the capital city, Behera said during his tenure as a minister and legislator for the last seven months and three-and-a-half years respectively, many people have approached him for compensation in such cases, majority which were dowry and SC/ST atrocity cases. He said that out of the SC/ST atrocity cases, a majority were politically motivated.
The minister said that most of the times, SC/ST atrocity cases are being used to target others. He said there is immense pressure on the inspector in-charge of police stations in such cases. Police has also no time to create awareness about such cases because of its work pressure.
Stating that things have improved after the Supreme Court judgement in this regard, the minister said that now an officer in the rank of sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) or tehsildar can investigate into the complaints before release of compensation amount. But the victim gets only around Rs 50,000 out of the Rs 2 lakh compensation and the rest is misappropriated. There are cases when advance commission is demanded from the victims of atrocity cases, he added.