CUTTACK: With rumours about the death of a 32-year-old man, who was allegedly subjected to custodial torture, spreading on Friday, irate residents of Chandiprasad village blocked the Trisulia-Bhubaneswar road in front of the Barang police station, demanding information on his health condition and whereabouts.
Rakesh Behera was allegedly subjected to third-degree torture at Baranga police station after his detention on May 21 following the recovery of a half-buried body of a woman from the bed of river Kathajodi near Brahmanigaon. Rakesh’s wife had gone missing on May 15, following which he had filed a missing complaint. This had apparently led the cops to detain him.
Sources said tension escalated on Friday after police allegedly failed to provide concrete information regarding Rakesh’s condition. He was undergoing treatment in the central ICU of SCB Medical College and Hospital before being shifted to the cardiothoracic and vascular surgery (CTVS) department on Friday. Rakesh’s mother-in-law, Minati Sahu, who had been attending to him at the hospital informed villagers that staff and police personnel had taken him away in an ambulance.
This sparked rumours of his death prompting residents to accuse the police of concealing details about his whereabouts and condition. Villagers gathered in large numbers and blocked the Trisulia-Bhubaneswar road from around 2 pm, disrupting vehicular movement for several hours. Numerous vehicles remained stranded on both sides of the road.
“Despite repeated queries, police are not giving any satisfactory information regarding Rakesh’s condition, leaving us in the dark. We are in doubt whether Rakesh is alive or not,” they protesters alleged.
On being informed, senior officials of the Cuttack police rushed to the spot and held discussions with the agitating villagers. However, the protesters insisted on receiving clear information Rakesh’s whereabouts and health status.
Following the discussions, eight to 10 villagers went to SCB MCH and confirmed that Rakesh had indeed been shifted to the CTVS department.
The agitators, though, continued the blockade alleging that his condition had deteriorated further and that he had been placed on ventilator support. While efforts to elicit a response from DCP Khilari Rishikesh Dnyandeo proved futile, a senior officer said that Rakesh, who was reportedly suffering from kidney and heart complications, had been shifted to the CTVS department on doctors’ advice and was undergoing treatment with the support of an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation machine.
“His mother-in-law, Minati Sahu, was duly informed about the shifting of Rakesh. However, she sent a wrong message to the village, which triggered tension,” the officer claimed.
Meanwhile, with the villagers refusing to budge from the road, police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to disperse them. The busy road was cleared and vehicular movement resumed late in the night.
